Preconditioning by aerobic exercise reduces acute ischemic renal injury in rats

Acute kidney injury (AKI) can be defined as the sudden loss of renal function associated with structural changes in the kidneys. Currently, 13.3 million people die of AKI around the world. Normally aerobic exercise is used both as/for the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure, metabolic disease and Diabetes mellitus (DM). Nevertheless, exercise preconditioning must be a crucial resource in the prevention and mitigation of AKI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the exercise preconditioning on renal IR (ischemic/reperfusion) experimental model. Male Wistars rats were divided into three groups (n = 9): sham (S), ischemic/reperfusion (IR), exercise + ischemic/reperfusion (EX + IR). IR renal injury was induced by clamping the bilateral renal artery for 45 min. The rats were subjected to exercise 5 days a week for 4 weeks with progressive intensity and duration. The group treated with exercise preconditioning, showed additional improvements in various parameters, including serum creatinine, proteinuria, and decrease of the severity of the tubular injury and activated caspase‐3 levels (P < 0.05). The previous aerobic exercise‐induced renoprotection in the IR injury. We anticipate that the practice of physical exercise in healthy individuals can also be useful for the prevention and attenuation of AKI.