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The Effect of Treadmill Exercising Obese versus Lean Young Male Zucker Rats on Bone Mineral Content and Strength
Author(s) -
Ip Tsun Yin,
Peterson Jonathan,
Bryner Randall,
Tou Janet
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a454-a
Subject(s) - endocrinology , medicine , bone mineral content , treadmill , bone mineral , obesity , alkaline phosphatase , lean body mass , tibia , body weight , chemistry , osteoporosis , surgery , enzyme , biochemistry
Exercising has been suggested to reduce obesity which is increasing among adolescences. Studies indicate that weight‐bearing exercise and obesity are two independent factors that increase bone mass and strength. This study investigated the effects of exercise on bone in obese versus normal weight animals. Young (age 6 weeks) obese and lean male Zucker rats (n=10/group) were randomly assigned to either no exercise or treadmill exercise. At the end of 9 weeks, both femurs and tibiae were excised. Biomechanical strength was assessed by three point bending test. Bone morphometry, whole bone mineral content (BMC) and serum alkaline phosphatase were also measured. Results showed that treadmill exercising reduced the body weight of obese rats by 9% (p=0.037) compared to non‐exercised obese animals. Bone results indicated no effect on the femurs but in obese exercised rats, tibial mass (p<0.001) and tibial strength (p=0.03) were lower compared to lean exercised animals. No significant differences were found in whole BMC or serum alkaline phosphatase. The results suggest that exercising has a negative impact on the bones of young obese animals. This may have occurred because the weight loss due to exercising removed the additional load on bones provided by obesity.