Effect of Maternal Aerobic Exercise on Myocardial and Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Offspring of Hypertensive Rats

Jiaqi Cao; Huimin Liu; Meiling Shan; Baile Wu; Lijun Shi; Yanyan Zhang

doi:10.3791/69142

Research Article

Effect of Maternal Aerobic Exercise on Myocardial and Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Offspring of Hypertensive Rats

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DOI:

10.3791/69142

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November 21st, 2025

Jiaqi Cao^*¹ , Huimin Liu^*¹ , Meiling Shan¹ , Baile Wu¹ , Lijun Shi¹^,²^,³ , Yanyan Zhang¹^,²^,³

¹Department of Exercise Physiology, Beijing Sport University, ²Laboratory of Sports Stress and Adaptation of General Administration of Sport, Beijing Sport University, ³Key Laboratory of Physical Fitness and Exercise, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University

^* These authors contributed equally

Summary

This research aims to assess whether maternal aerobic exercise during pregnancy in spontaneously hypertensive rats can reduce the susceptibility of offspring to ischemia/reperfusion injury. To achieve this, surgical models and physiological assessments are applied to the offspring.

Abstract

Hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD) affects vital organs such as the heart and brain, leading to adverse outcomes and posing a serious threat to human health. Maternal exercise helps promote fetal growth and development by improving the intrauterine environment, thereby reducing disease risk and enhancing offspring health. This study investigates whether maternal exercise during pregnancy can reduce the susceptibility of the offspring's heart and brain to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury linked to hypertension, in order to evaluate the protective potential of maternal exercise as an early-life intervention. Pregnant normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were randomly assigned to either a sedentary (p-WKY-SED, p-SHR-SED) or exercise (p-WKY-EX, p-SHR-EX) group for the duration of their gestation. A maternal swimming exercise model was established during pregnancy. Three-month-old (3M) offspring were selected as research subjects. During this period, blood pressure was monitored, and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI) and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgeries were performed to induce ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Maternal exercise during pregnancy significantly reduced infarct size in both male and female offspring of hypertensive rats following MI/RI and MCAO. In the MI/RI model, infarct size was reduced by 60.9% in males and 55.9% in females. In the MCAO model, infarct size was reduced by 31.0% in males and 35.9% in females. Additionally, maternal exercise improved post-myocardial infarction (MI) cardiac function in male offspring and decreased their overall susceptibility to ischemic injury in both the heart and brain. In the context of hereditary hypertension during pregnancy, maternal aerobic exercise has been shown to confer significant protective effects on adult offspring by reducing I/R injury in the heart and brain. These findings highlight the potential of maternal exercise as an effective non-pharmacological strategy for early-life intervention to reduce susceptibility to HMOD.

Introduction

The global incidence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to rise, hypertension, a key risk factor for CVD, also shows a steadily increasing global prevalence¹. Hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD) frequently affects the heart and brain, leading to left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, and stroke². These complications are driven by vascular remodeling, endothelial dysfunction, and impaired organ perfusion.

In 1986, Barker et al. introduced the "Developmental Origins of Health and Disease" (DOHaD) theory³, link....