Resisted jumping exercise in an aquatic environment attenuates joint edema, nociception, and tissue damage in male Wistar rats with rheumatoid arthritis associated with periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether aquatic resisted jumping exercise attenuates joint and periodontal tissue damage and improves the nociceptive threshold without exacerbating inflammation in an experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis associated with periodontitis in Wistar rats. DESIGN: Forty-six male Wistar rats were allocated to six groups: control (CG, n = 7), exercise (EXG, n = 8), periodontitis (PG, n = 8), rheumatoid arthritis (RAG, n = 8), periodontitis plus rheumatoid arthritis (PRAG, n = 7), and periodontitis plus rheumatoid arthritis with exercise (PRAEXG, n = 8). Rheumatoid arthritis was induced by Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) and periodontitis by ligature placement. Exercise began 24 h after arthritis induction and consisted of seven alternate-day sessions over two weeks. Joint edema, nociceptive threshold, and inflammatory and histological parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: Arthritis-induced groups exhibited increased joint diameter, whereas PRAEXG showed significantly reduced edema at evaluation 4 (EV4) and a higher nociceptive threshold than PRAG. PRAG exhibited numerically higher leukocyte migration and synovial inflammatory cell infiltration, whereas PRAEXG showed fewer inflammatory cells. All periodontitis groups exhibited alveolar bone loss; however, PRAEXG demonstrated numerically lower bone loss and fewer osteoclasts. IL-17 levels did not differ significantly among groups. CONCLUSIONS: The aquatic resisted jumping exercise reduced joint edema and improved the nociceptive threshold. Histological findings were consistent with fewer inflammatory cells, numerically lower alveolar bone loss, and fewer osteoclasts in the exercised groups. Because IL-17 levels did not differ significantly among the experimental groups, no effect of the exercise protocol on this inflammatory biomarker can be concluded.