Effects of exercise training on redox stress resilience in young and older adults

•Forearm Ischemia/Reperfusion (I/R) elicits redox stress responses in humans.•There were no age differences in F2-isoprostane response to the I/R trial.•Exercise training improves I/R responses in young and older men and women. Perturbations in redox homeostasis can lead to physiological dysfunction and impaired stress resilience. This randomized controlled trial investigated whether aerobic exercise training could improve redox stress resilience measured by the response to a non-exercise redox stressor (forearm ischemia/reperfusion; I/R trial) in young and older men and women. We hypothesized that older adults would have impaired responses to redox perturbations, but that exercise training would reverse the dysfunction. Young (18-28yo, n=21) and older (60-77yo, n=19) men and women were randomized to 8-week exercise training (ET; 3 d/wk, 45 min/day) or a non-exercise control group (CON). Aerobic capacity was measured by VO2 peak test on a cycle ergometer. Plasma F2-isoprostane responses to the I/R trial were measured across 7 time points: pre-trial, and 15-, 30-, 60-, 120-, 180-, and 240-minutes post-trial. The I/R trial was completed before and after the 8-week exercise intervention or control arm. There were no significant differences in I/R trial responses across age, sex, or groups randomized to training or control. Exercise training significantly improved I/R trial response compared to controls (p