Background: There are many conditions that may affect the antioxidant enzyme activities, as aging and exercise. Moderate regular exercise up-regulate activities of antioxidant enzymes with depressant action on the lipid peroxidation processes, while strenuous exercise have a depressant effect on the activities of antioxidant enzymes with stimulatory action on the lipid peroxidation processes. Glutathione-S transferase (GST) and catalase are the major part of the specific antioxidant enzyme defence system response; malondialdehyde is the major indicator to lipid peroxidation processes which are affected by the exercise.
Aim of the work: To study the effect of moderate regular exercise and strenuous exercise with and without vitamin E or C supplementation on antioxidant defence system.
Material and Methods: Fifty six aging male albino rats were used in the present experiment. They were equally divided into seven groups. Group I: control group, Group II: moderate regular exercised group. Group III: strenuous exercised group. Group IV: moderate regular exercised group with vitamin E supplementation. Group V: strenuous exercised group with vitamin E supplementation, Group VI: moderate regular exercised group with vitamin C supplementation. Group VII: strenuous exercised group with vitamin C supplementation. The exercise was performed on a modified manual treadmill and the experiment continued for two months. Peripheral blood samples and muscular tissue samples were taken from all animal groups for estimation of glutathione-S transferase, catalase and malondialdehyde.
Results: The moderate regular exercise with or without vitamin E or C supplementation increased the antioxidant enzymes Glutathione-S transferase, catalase and decreased the malondialdehyde in serum and muscular tissue. The strenuous exercise decrease the antioxidant enzymes and increase the malondialdehyde production, while with vitamin E or C supplementation strenuous exercise enhanced the antioxidant enzymes and decreased the malondialdehyde production.
Conclusion: The moderate regular exercise enhance the antioxidant defence system and so inhibit the lipid peroxidation production, while the strenuous exercise inhibit the antioxidant defence system activity and increase the lipid peroxidation production. Supplementation with vitamin E or C is essential to enhance the antioxidant defence system activities that decrease lipid peroxidation.