Effects of endurance training on gonadal fat pad and ventricular mass in rat

It has been reported that gonadal fat pad correlates well with the body fat in mice. The effects of endurance training on gonadal fat pad and also on ventricle mass in rat were tested in this study. Eight week treadmill training increased the endurance time and distance run in trained rats compared with sedentary rats. Endurance training decreased the weight of the left gonadal fat pad and also proportional gonadal fat pad in rats. However, Lee index, weights of the ventricles, kidneys, and testicles were not affected. The decrease in gonadal fat pad by eight week treadmill training in rat, suggests that endurance training may affect the body composition in favor of other tissues than adipose tissue probably by increasing the consumption of fats rather than carbohydrates to provide energy. Lee index, which is an obesity index used in rodents, may not be sensitive enough to detect small alterations in body fat in rats reflected as decreased gonadal fat pad by training in our study. Ventricular function should have improved to increase endurance by 8 week treadmill training not necessarily increasing the ventricular mass in our study.