2019 Volume 8 Issue 5 Pages 229-240
An exercise regimen rarely causes organ damage in humans or rats with established essential hypertension. However, daily exercise is essential for elderly people to prolong a healthy lifespan. This study was designed to examine the effects of exercise training alone and the combined treatment of exercise and anti-hypertensive medication on morphological characteristics of the heart and kidneys, as well as to examine the response to pressor agents in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). SHRs were divided into the following four groups and control group: the voluntary wheel running exercise (SHR-Ex), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I), captopril (Capt) administration (SHR-Capt), Capt administration and exercise (SHR-Capt & Ex), and sedentary control (SHR-Sed) groups. Wister-Kyoto (WKY) rats were also used and divided into either exercise (WKY-Ex) or sedentary control (WKY-Sed) groups. These treatments were conducted from 8 to 23 weeks of age. Approximately 20 mg/kg/day of Capt dissolved in tap water was given daily in Capt-treated animals. After the treatment period, both the SHR-Sed and SHR-Ex groups exhibited hypertension, hyperpressor responsiveness, cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyocyte fibrosis, and renal hypertrophy, accompanied by an enlargement of glomerular and mesangial areas. On the other hand, the Capt-treated SHR groups showed an inhibition of blood pressure elevation, no organ damage, and suppression of pressor responsivity to levels comparable to those of the normotensive WKY rats. The present results suggest that a combined treatment with exercise and an ACE-I such as Capt is recommended for middle-aged and elderly essential hypertensive patients to avoid secondary risks of cardiovascular related diseases induced by exercise alone.
