Effects of Aerobic Treadmill Exercise on Intestinal Flora in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Abstract BACKGROUND To explore the effects of aerobic treadmill exercise on blood pressure (BP) and intestinal flora of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). METHODS Twelve male 8-week-old SHR rats were randomly divided into SHR and SHR exercise groups (n = 6 per group) with 6 male Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats as control. Control and SHR rats were placed on a stationary exercise treadmill, while rats in the SHR exercise group underwent continuous 8 weeks of treadmill exercise (speed 18–20 m/min, treadmill slope 0°, 60 min/day, 5 days/week). BP was measured at baseline and then biweekly using a tail cuff method. Fecal samples were collected at 8 weeks after the experiment for 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing to analyze the composition and diversity of intestinal flora. RESULTS Treadmill exercise significantly decreased systolic and diastolic BP in SHR rats at week 8 (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in α diversity between SHR and SHR exercise groups (P > 0.05). The flora structure in SHR exercise group was similar to that of WKY rats. Additionally, exercise increased the relative abundance of Elusimicrobia (P < 0.05) and decreased the relative abundance of Spirochaetes (P < 0.05) at the phylum level but increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacterial genera such as Elusimicrobium and Ruminococcaceae UCG-009 at the genus level (P < 0.05). Following exercise intervention, the genera Elusimicrobium, Marvinbryantia, Negativibacillus, Ruminococcus 1, and Dubosella were significantly increased and negatively correlated with systolic BP (P < 0.05), while ASF356 was significantly decreased and positively correlated with systolic BP (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Treadmill exercise lowers BP and reshapes the composition of intestinal flora in SHR rats, enriching the beneficial genera and reducing the harmful bacterialt abundance in the intestinal tract.