Research Article

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

DOI:

10.3791/69142

⸱

November 21st, 2025

 ,  ,  ,  ,  , 
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

In This Article

Summary

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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

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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

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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....

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Protocol

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All experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Beijing Sport University (Approval No. 2022034A). Rats were housed individually at the Beijing Sport University animal facility under controlled conditions (temperature: 22-24 °C; humidity: 45%-55%; 12-h light/dark cycle). Specific pathogen-free (SPF) 11-week-old female and 12-week-old male SHR, along with age-matched normotensive WKY rats, were obtained from Beijing Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology Co., Ltd. (License No. SYXK [Beijing] 2021-0053) for breeding purposes. The reagents and the equipment used for this study are listed in the Table of Materials.

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Results

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Maternal exercise during pregnancy improves fetal body weight in hypertensive rats and reduces blood pressure in male offspring

To investigate the effects of maternal exercise on developmental outcomes, fetal and adult offspring parameters were assessed. At ED21, no significant differences in fetal body length were observed among the four groups (Figure 1B). However, fetal body weight was significantly lower in the p-SHR-SED group compared to the .......

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Discussion

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This study provides strong evidence that maternal exercise during pregnancy in hypertensive rats conferred significant protection against ischemic injury to the heart and brain of adult offspring, with sex-specific differences in the degree of protection. This study found that maternal exercise reduced myocardial and cerebral infarct volumes in both male and female offspring. However, improvements in blood pressure and post-ischemic cardiac function were observed only in males, reflecting the intricate relationship .......

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Acknowledgements

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32200941 and 32371183), and the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (2025KYPT03).

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Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
10% Neutral Buffered Formalin Sigma-AldrichR04586TTC
2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chlorideSigma-AldrichT8877TTC
75% EthanolShandong Hualu Pharmaceutical Co., LTDN/ASurgery
Biopotential amplifierAD InstrumentsPowerLabMI/RI surgery
Brain MatrixShenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTD68716TTC
Circular water bucketNaliyaN/ARats swimming
Constant temperature water bathSenxinDK-S12TTC
Electric Forced-Air Drying OvenShanghai Yiheng Scientific Instruments Co.,LTDDHG-9620ASurgery
Experimental Surgical Instrument Shenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTDSP0001-GSurgery
Hair removal creamVeetN/ASurgery
HairdryerPanasonicEH-WNE5HPost-swimming care
Heart mold Shenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTD68720TTC
Integrated small animal anesthesia and ventilation systemKent ScientificSomnosuiteSurgery
IsofluraneShenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTDR510-22-10Surgery
Laser Speckle Blood Flow Imaging SystemShenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTDRFSLI ZW/RFLSI IIIMCAO surgery
Mating cageZhongke Life ScienceSS3Rats mating
MCAO Monofilament SutureShenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTDMSRC42B200PK50MCAO surgery
Mini Handheld Cranial Drill and Drill BitShenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTD78001/78063MCAO surgery
Non-invasive Tail-cuff Blood Pressure Monitoring SystemKent ScientificCODA MonitorBlood Pressure Monitoring
Phosphate-Buffered SalineThermo Fisher Scientific10010023TTC
Physiological function experimental systemChengdu TME Technology Co.,LTDPL-3504MI/RI surgery
Physiological Saline Solution (0.9% NaCl)Shandong Hualu Pharmaceutical Co., LTDN/ASurgery
Povidone-iodineShandong Hualu Pharmaceutical Co., LTDN/ASurgery
Rat tracheal intubation tubeZhongke Life Science16GMI/RI surgery
Razor BladesGilletteQ31/0115000301C004TTC
Rodent breeding feedBeijing Huafukang Biotechnology Co., LTD1032Pregnant rats feeding
Rodent maintenance feedBeijing Huafukang Biotechnology Co., LTD1022Offspring rearing
Scanner EPSONModel V19IITTC
Small animal ECG electrodeYuyan InstrumentsIX-BIO8MI/RI surgery
Small animal ultrasound imaging systemConaSiliconWaveMI/RI surgery
Standard Stereotaxic Frame Shenzhen RWD Life Technology Co., LTD68002MCAO surgery
Sterile cotton ballsShandong Hualu Pharmaceutical Co., LTDN/ASurgery
Sterile gauzeKufu Medical InstrumentN/ASurgery
Suture needle with threadJinheng5-0Surgery
Suture needle with thread for ligation Ningbo Lingqiao3/8 circle, 8-0Surgery
Thermostatic heating pad for small animalsChangsha Maiyue Instrument Co.,LTDM5200Surgery
TowelsGraceN/APost-swimming care
Ultrasound coupling gelHaisihainuoN/AMI/RI surgery
Vertical AutoclaveXiamen Zhiwei Instrument Co.,LTDFD50ESurgery
Vortex mixer Scientific IndustriesVortex-Genie 2TTC
Water heaterHaierEC6001-Q6SRats swimming
Weight ScaleElectronlc AcaleJM.A10001Body weight measurement
Wistar RatsVital river Laboratory Animal Technology Co., LTDN/AExperiment

References

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  1. Zhou, B., Perel, P., Mensah, G. A., Ezzati, M. Global epidemiology, health burden and effective interventions for elevated blood pressure and hypertension. Nat Rev Cardiol. 18 (11), 785-802 (2021).
  2. Cohuet, G., Struijker-Boudier, H.

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Tags

Maternal Aerobic ExerciseIschemia Reperfusion InjuryHypertensive RatsMyocardial InjuryCerebral InjuryOffspring HealthMaternal Exercise PregnancyMiddle Cerebral Artery OcclusionMyocardial InfarctionHypertension Organ Damage
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