Purpose: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrinopathy of women in the reproductive age group seems to be adversely affected by associated thyroid dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of eight weeks aerobic exercise on thyroid hormones in rats with polycystic ovary syndrome

Materials and Methods: Forty, adult female Wistar rats (180±20g) underwent an 8-week aerobic training program. The training group was exercised on a rodent motor-driven treadmill at a 0◦ slope for 60 min/day, 5days/wk for 8 wk. During the 1st wk of training the rats ran at treadmill by speed of 10 m/min for 15 min for adaptation. During the 2nd and 3rd wk of training the speed and duration increased step by step until the animals ran for 60 min/day. Paired-sample T tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to determine the differences in a parameter among the groups. Significant level was 0.05

Results: The results show that TSH was not significant between Low intensity group (LIG) and Medium intensity group (MIG) although it was higher in MIG group. Also MIG had significant reduction of TSH compared to CON (P<0.00). Also there was no observed significance in T3 between LIG and MIG although mean level of T3 was higher in MIG comparing to CON

Conclusions: The present study showed that the aerobic training program with different intensity and duration improves thyroid hormones in rats with PCOS