EFFECT OF EXERCISE TRAINING ON ANTIOXIDANT SYSTEM IN BRAIN-REGIONS OFRAT

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether any alterat ions in antioxidant enzyme activities and levels of glutathione (GSH) in brain regions occurred following exercise training. Sprague-Dawley rats were given exercise training on a treadmill for 7.5 weeks and sac rificed 18 h after the last exercise along with the sedentary control rats. Different brain regions-cerebral cortex (CC), brainstem (BS), co rpus striatum (CS), and hippocampus (H)-were isolated; GSH, oxidized g lutathione (GSSG), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxida se (GSH-Px) activities were determined. The exercise training increase d SOD activity significantly (130% of sedentary control) in BS and in CS. SOD activity in H was the lowest of all four brain regions. Differ ent brain regions showed GSH-Px activity in decreasing order for CS < BS < CC < H. GSH levels were 43% less in BS than CC and CS. The ratio of GSH/GSSG significantly increased from 6.8 to 8.3 in CC, and from 9. 4 to 13.5 in BS as a result of exercise training. Different brain regi ons contained different activities of antioxidant enzymes, as well as GSH and GSSG levels, which were preferentially altered as a result of exercise training to cope with oxidative stress.