Acute doxorubicin (DOX) cardiotoxicity can be attenuated by exercise preconditioning, but little is known of whether this cardioprotection continues beyond 10 days post-DOX administration. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exercise preconditioning on early chronic DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Male rats were randomly assigned to sedentary, treadmill, or wheel running groups. Treadmill and wheel running animals participated in a progressive treadmill training protocol or voluntary wheel running, respectively, for 10 weeks. Following the intervention, animals were further randomized to receive either DOX (sedentary + DOX, treadmill + DOX, wheel running + DOX) or saline (sedentary + saline, treadmill + saline, wheel running + saline). All animals then remained sedentary for 4 weeks. A 22% reduction in fractional shortening was observed in left ventricles from previously sedentary animals receiving DOX when compared with sedentary + saline. This degree of decline was not observed in treadmill + DOX and wheel running + DOX. Sedentary + DOX possessed significantly depressed mitral and aortic valve blood flow velocities when compared with sedentary + saline, but these decrements were not observed in treadmill + DOX and wheel running + DOX. Ex vivo analysis revealed that left ventricular developed pressure and maximal rate of pressure development were significantly lower in sedentary + DOX when compared to sedentary + saline. Treadmill and wheel running prior to DOX treatment protected against these decrements. Exercise cardioprotection was associated with preserved myosin heavy chain but not sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase 2a expression. In conclusion, 10 weeks of prior exercise protected against early chronic DOX cardiotoxicity suggesting that training status may be a determining factor in the degree of late-onset cardiotoxicity experienced by cancer patients undergoing treatment with DOX.
© The Author(s) 2011