Regular endurance exercise prevents cyclosporine A-induced oxidative stress in mouse skeletal muscles

Introduction. - Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a widely used immunosuppressive agent to treat allograft rejection and autoimmune diseases. This treatment could also contribute to several adverse effects, including decreased muscle functions and multiorgan failures, due to increased oxidative stress and/or decreased antioxidant capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 8-week endurance exercise on activities of antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress in quadriceps muscle of CsA-treated mice. Summary of facts. - BALB/c female mice were randomly assigned to the following four groups: 0-Ex (no CsA and no exercise), 0+Ex (no CsA and exercise), 20-Ex (CsA 20 mg/kg per day and no exercise), and 20+Ex (CsA 20 mg/kg per day and exercise) with eight in each group. The exercise groups ran on a treadmill at approximately 75% VO2max for 45 minutes, 3 days per week. CsA or exercise alone did not change superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities. The combination of CsA administration and endurance exercise significantly increased quadriceps SOD and GPX activities. In the absence of exercise, CsA resulted in significantly higher protein carbonyl (PC) concentrations. On the other hand, endurance exercise significantly reduced muscle PC concentration in the CsA-treated group. Conclusion. - This study suggested that regular endurance exercise could improve muscle antioxidant capacity and, therefore, protect against CsA-induced oxidative stress. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.