Effect of swimming on prednisolone-induced osteoporosis in elderly rats

Abstract

We investigated the possible ameliorating and preventive effect of swimming on prednisolone-induced osteoporosis in elderly rats. A total of 48 female Sabra strain rats were randomly assigned to the following groups and treatments: (1) control (C), (2) swimming (S), (3) prednisolone-treated (CP), and (4) swimming + prednisolone (SP). An additional 8 rats were sacrificed and examined at the onset of the study. Groups C and S were sham injected; groups CP and SP were injected with prednisolone (Ultracorten), 80 mg/kg three times per week for 10 weeks. Groups S and SP swam 1 h daily, 5 days per week for 10 weeks. SP rats swam simultaneously with prednisolone administration. At the end of the swimming period, in vivo bone mineral content (BMC) measurements were performed on rat vertebrae L4-5 by single-photon absorptiometry. Later, the humerus and femur were removed for the following measurements: morphometric, bone density (BD) by Compton scattering technique, bone ion content by atomic absorption, and hydration fraction by proton magnetic resonance (PMR). We found that the humeral BD of S rats was greater by 14% for group S over C and 3% greater for group SP over CP (P less than 0.05). Vertebral BMC was higher by 15% in group S over C and 11% higher for group SP over CP (P less than 0.05). Femoral calcium (mg/g dry bone) ion content was higher by 5% in group S over C and 8% in group SP over CP group (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of Different Swimming Exercise Intensities on Bone Tissue Composition in Mice: A Raman Spectroscopy Study

“…6,[10][11][12][13][14] No significant difference in the maximum breaking force of the lumbar vertebral body was described among the exercise and control groups in mature osteopenic rats submitted to the strong physical activity, and that the beneficial effects of running exercise on weight-bearing bones with estrogen deficiency and inadequate calcium intake are reached only when an optimal level of exercise is applied. 47 Previous studies showed that different endurance training intensity levels led to differences in body weight and bone parameters of rats.…”

“…13 Swimming may have a beneficial effect on BMD compared to the controls for elderly animals with induced osteoporosis. 14 On the other hand, weightlessness or skeletal unloading such as swimming may not have an equivalent beneficial effect on BMD when compared to weighted training, 10 or could lead to bone loss in rats with hypertension-induced osteoporosis 12 and healthy scuba-divers. 6 The prescription of water activities has been traditionally adopted as a preventive tool for bone health in the elderly, 15,16 but studies demonstrated that overtraining and compulsive exercise could lead to pronounced loss of bone minerals.…”

Protective effect of apigenin on ovariectomy-induced bone loss in rats

“…At 7 weeks after surgery, bone loss was confirmed, and the trabecular bone in the femoral neck between the SHAM and OVX groups was compared using Micro-CT. One week later, the rats were assigned to the following treatments: SHAM and OVX groups (corn oil containing a 3:2 mixture of DMSO and ethanol), OVX + E2 (0.5 mg/kg E2 p.o., three times a week), and OVX + API (10 mg/kg API p. o., three times a week), and fed a 5L79 diet for 15 weeks. The API and E2 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) were each dissolved in a mixture of DMSO and ethanol; a 100 μg/ml working dilution was created using corn oil immediately prior to administration (Gallo et al, 2005;Mosekilde, 1995;Swissa-Sivan et al, 1992;Zanoli et al, 2000). Body weight and food intake were measured once a week during the experimental period.…”

Voluntary wheel running mitigates the stress-induced bone loss in ovariectomized rats

“…Weight-bearing exercise is not the only exercise that is good for the skeletal system; endurance swimming-a non-weight-bearing, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise-has also been shown to benefit calcium and bone metabolism by increasing intestinal calcium absorption [15], BMD [16], bone growth [17], and bone strength [18]. In addition, swimming is usually recommended for postmenopausal osteoporotic patients unable to perform weight-bearing exercise because they are overweight, have a joint injury, or are at risk of fracture [19].…”