Exhaustive exercise affects fluidity and alpha-tocopherol levels in brain synaptosomal membranes of normal and vitamin E supplemented rats.

Alpha-tocopherol level and fluidity were studied in the neuronal membrane of rat brain after exhaustive exercise. The order parameter, 5-doxyl-stearic acid (5-DS), which is utilized for assessing the fluidity of the lipid bilayer closer to the hydrophilic face of the membrane, decreased in the pons-medulla oblongata, and the motion parameter, 16-doxyl-stearic acid (16-DS) for the core of the lipid bilayer, decreased in the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum, whereas it increased in the cerebellum after exercise. The w/s ratio of n-(1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinyl)-maleimido (maleimido-TEMPO) for the conformation of SH-protein also decreased in the hippocampus and midbrain after exercise. These changes were not observed in alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplemented rats after exercise. Although the levels of 5-DS, 16-DS and maleimido-TEMPO were affected by alpha-tocopheryl acetate in rat neuronal membranes, fluidity changes were reversible with exercise.