Introduction:Considering the importance of exercise in aging, this study examined the effect of concurrent training order (interval-endurance) on inflammatory and antioxidant indices in the EDL muscle of aged rats.
Methods: 15 aged male Wistar rats (18–20 months) were randomly divided into three groups: control (Cont), interval-endurance training (IE), and endurance-interval training (EI). The 10-week training intervention (5 sessions/week) was performed, with intensity (4-12% of body weight) and duration (25-45 minutes) progressively increasing weekly. 48 hours after the last session, the EDL muscle was removed, and protein levels of indices were measured by ELISA (significance level set at P < 0.05).
Results: Both IE and EI groups showed a significant decrease in IL-1β protein levels compared to the control group. SOD enzyme activity was also significantly increased in both IE and EI groups versus the control. For IL-10, both IE and EI groups exhibited the highest levels of this anti-inflammatory cytokine (P < 0.05); however, although the EI group showed a 44% increase, the magnitude of change was smaller compared to the IE group (81%).
Discussion: The results indicated that the IE protocol had significantly greater effectiveness than the EI protocol, while the changes induced by EI were more limited in scope. These findings suggest that the order of performing concurrent training components plays a key role in modulating inflammatory and antioxidant responses in the muscle of the elderly.