Late life maintenance and enhancement of functional exercise capacity in low and high responding rats after low intensity treadmill training.

ABSTRACT: Intrinsic exercise capacity is predictive of both lifespan and healthspan but whether adaptive exercise capacity influences the benefits achieved from aerobic training implemented later in life is not known.

Aim

To determine if exercise late in life provides any functional improvements or underlying beneficial biochemical adaptations in rats bred to have a high response to training (HRT rats) or little to no response to training (LRT rats).

Methods

Adult (11 months) and old (22 months) female LRT and HRT rats either remained sedentary (SED) or were exercised (EXER) on a treadmill 2-3 times/week at 60% of their initial maximum running speed and distance for 4 months. At 26 months of age, exercise capacity was re-evaluated and extensor digitorum longus, gastrocnemius (GTN), and

SUBMITTER: Brown LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707857 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature