African Journal of Immunology Research

ISSN 2756-3375

African Journal of Immunology Research ISSN 9431-5833 Vol. 5 (10), pp. 415-419, October, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Immune function changes of rats in incremental graded exercise test

Wang Hongfang1* and Zhang Meng2

1Human Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan City, Human Province, 411104, People’s Republic of China.

2Dezhou University, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, 253023, People’s Republic of China.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +86-  0732-8552532,  +86-   0732-8552532.  Fax:   +86-   0732-8552532.

Accepted 24 July, 2017

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of incremental graded exercise on immune function of spleen and thymus in rats. The animals were divided into 6 groups, with 32 animals in per group: no exercise (W0), exercise for 1 week (W1), exercise for 2 weeks (W2), exercise for 3 weeks (W3), exercise for 4 weeks (W4) and exercise for 5 weeks (W5). Each group was further divided into 4 groups, with 8 animals in per group: sedentary (S), no recovery after exercise (AE0), recovery for 3 h after exercise (AE3), and recovery for 24 h after exercise (AE24). Incremental graded exercise test was performed on a rodent treadmill (gradient of 0°), which lasted for 5 weeks. The rats were motivated to exercise for 30 min a day for 6 days a week and weekend breaks. Speed in the treadmill gradually increased to 5 (W0), 20 (W1), 25 (W2), 30 (W3), 35 (W4) and 40 m/min (W5). At the end of exercise, the rats were killed, and thymus and spleen tissue were collected and weighed. The results showed that incremental exercise affected the immune function of spleen and thymus. With the incremental implementation and extension of exercise time, the effect of exercise on spleen index and thymus index became increasingly greater.

Key words: Incremental graded exercise, immune function, spleen index, thymus index rats.