Morphoquantitative study of the aorta’s wall in aerobically trained elderly wistar rats

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate under morphoquantitative aspects possible alterations in the ascending section of the Aorta’s endothelium of elderly Wistar rats (16 months of age) trained at an anaerobic threshold intensity. Ten male animals were divided in two experimental groups (control and exercise, each with 5 animals). The exercise group performed swimming five times per week, 30 minutes per day during eight weeks. Anaerobic threshold was evaluated at the first, fourth and eighth week of training. After the intervention the animals were sacrificed and the heart and Aorta were collected. The Aorta was properly fixed and prepared according to the histology procedures for coloring with Hematoxilin-Eosin, Weigert and Verhoeff. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations were performed using morphometric and stereological methods. There was an increase in the thickness, cross sectional area, elastic fibers and distance between the beams and the nucleus of the smooth muscle without alteration of its diameter (p< .05).