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. 2007 Sep;41(9):597-602.
doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2006.033829. Epub 2007 May 11.

Exercise pretraining protects against cerebral ischaemia induced by heat stroke in rats

Yu-Wen Chen  1 , Sheng-Hsien Chen, Willy Chou, Yi-Ming Lo, Ching-Hsia Hung, Mao-Tsun Lin
Affiliations

Exercise pretraining protects against cerebral ischaemia induced by heat stroke in rats

Yu-Wen Chen et al. Br J Sports Med. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

Background: In the rat brain, heat-stroke-induced damage to cerebral neurons is attenuated through heat-shock-induced overexpression of heat-shock protein 72 (HSP72).

Objective: To ascertain whether progressive exercise preconditioning induces HSP72 expression in the rat brain and prevents heat-stroke-induced cerebral ischaemia and injury.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to either a sedentary group or an exercise group. Those in the exercise group progressively ran on a treadmill 5 days/week, for 30-60 min/day at an intensity of 20-30 m/min for 3 weeks. The effects of heat stroke on mean arterial pressure, cerebral blood flow, brain ischaemia markers (glutamate, lactate/pyruvate ratio and nitric oxide), a cerebral injury marker (glycerol) and brain neuronal damage score in the preconditioned animals were compared with effects in unexercised controls. Heat stroke was induced by exposing urethane-anaesthetised animals to a temperature of 43 degrees C for 55 min, which caused the body temperature to reach 42 degrees C.

Results: Three weeks of progressive exercise pretreatment induced HSP72 preconditioning in the brain and conferred significant protection against heat-stroke-induced hyperthermia, arterial hypotension, cerebral ischaemia and neuronal damage; it also prolonged survival.

Conclusions: Exercise for 3 weeks can improve heat tolerance as well as attenuate heat-stroke-induced cerebral ischaemia in rats. The maintenance of mean arterial pressure and cerebral blood flow at appropriate levels in the rat brain may be related to overexpression of HSP72.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

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