pag masked protective physical exercise-induced high h2s levels in 5/6 nephrectomized rats

Background: to investigate the mechanisms of exercise therapeutics in preclinical animal models of chronic kidney disease (ckd), pag (d, l-propargylglycine), an inhibitor of hydrogen sulfide production, was used to examine the protective effects of physical activity on oxidative stress and inflammation levels during ckd. methods: male wistar rats with ckd, induced by the 5/6 nephrectomy procedure and subjected to 8 weeks of exercise training, received injections of pag, a cystathionine γ-lyase (cse) inhibitor, at a dose of 19 mg/kg, i.p., twice a week during those 8 weeks. the systolic blood pressure (bp) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (rsna) were assessed. additionally, plasma creatinine, bun, renal hydrogen sulfide (h2s) levels, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers were evaluated. results: in the pag group, inhibition of h2s production significantly reversed the improvements in plasma creatinine, bun, renal malondialdehyde (mda) level, superoxide dismutase (sod) activity, tnf-α, and il-6 that were achieved by exercise. additionally, high rsna and high bp, which were also reversed in the pag group, compared to the ckd group subjected to exercise training. conclusions: the results suggest that the improvement in bp, oxidative stress, and inflammation status by exercise in ckd may be at least partially due to cse/h2s signaling.