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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: JOE-08-0306v1 199/2/333    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chigurupati, S. Articles by Mattson, M. P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chigurupati, S. Articles by Mattson, M. P

¹ Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA² Department of Pathology, Orlando Regional Health Care, Orlando, Florida 32806, USA³ Biomolecular Science Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, Texas 79106, USA⁵ Division of Life and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Woman's University, Seoul 120-750, South Korea

(Correspondence should be addressed to M P Mattson at Laboratory of Neurosciences, Biomedical Research Center, 5th floor, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21224-6825, USA; Email: mattsonm{at}grc.nia.nih.gov)

Regular exercise can counteract the adverse effects of aging on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. In males, the normal aging process is associated with reductions in testosterone production and impaired spermatogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms and their potential modification by exercise are unknown. Here, we report that lifelong regular exercise (running) protects the testes against the adverse effects of advancing age, and that this effect of running is associated with decreased amounts of oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA in spermatogenic and Leydig cells. Six-month-old male mice were divided into a sedentary group and a group that ran an average of 1.75 km/day, until the mice reached the age of 20 months. Seminiferous tubules of runners exhibited a full complement of cells at different stages of the spermatogenic process and a clear central lumen with large numbers of spermatozoa, in contrast to sedentary mice that exhibited disorganized spermatogenic cells and lacked spermatocytes in a central lumen. Levels of protein carbonyls, nitrotyrosine, lipid peroxidation products, and oxidatively modified DNA were significantly greater in spermatogenic and Leydig cells of sedentary mice compared with runners. These findings suggest that lifelong regular exercise suppresses aging of testes by a mechanism that involves reduced oxidative damage to spermatogenic and Leydig cells.