EFFECTS OF SEDUM SARMENTOSUM ON FREE RADICAL METABOLISM IN MYOCARDIAL TISSUE OF EXERCISING RATS

YANGJUN DU*, ZHENGYING XIONG**, LIPING WANG***, YUFENG LI****, CHENGHE SHI*****

*Department of Physical Education, Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, Yangling City, Shaanxi Province, 712100 - **Institute of Sports Biology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, 710119 - ***High School Attached to Northwest A&F University, Yangling City, Shaanxi Province, 712100 - ****Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700 - *****Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191

Objective: to explore the effects of sedum sarmentosum on the free radical metabolism in myocardial tissue and the exercise performance of intensively exercising rats.

Methods: 24 healthy and male rats (Sprague Dawley, SD) were randomly divided into three groups, namely Group A: rest control group, Group B: exhaustive exercise group, and Group C: exhaustive exercise and medication group; all the rats in the three groups had free access to food and water; rats in Group C were administered sedum sarmentosum by gavage 3hours before taking exercise every day and the daily dose was 400 mg/Kg; while rats in Group A were kept in resting-state, Group B and C first took a week-long adaptive training on the treadmill followed by 7-week endurance training with increasing load till exhaustion. Thereafter all the animals were decapitated. Myocardial tissue of the rats was obtained for preparing tissue homogenate. Indicators of the defense mechanism against free radicals including the amount of Malondialdehyde (MDA) which is lipid peroxide, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and total anti-oxidant capacity (T-AOC) were measured.

Results: rats in Group C showed significantly elevated SOD activity, CAT activity, GSH-Px activity, and TAC compared with Croup A and B, and the differences between Group C and Group B in SOD activity and GSH-Px activity were highly significant (P<0.01); the amount of MDA in Group B was lower than Group C and the difference was highly significant (P<0.01); sedum sarmentosum helped to extend the duration of exhaustive exercising of the rats by 21.30%.

Conclusions: sedum sarmentosum could notably improve the activity of enzymes involved in scavenging free radicals in rat myocardial tissue and enhance the animal’s exercising performance.