Effects of 8 weeks of endurance and resistance training with garlic extract consumption on Bax protein gene expression and insulin resistance in rats with metabolic syndrome

Inactivity and imbalance diet increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Regarding the effects of training and garlic extract consumption on glucose, insulin, and lipid profile; this study was conducted to investigate the effects of 8-weeks of endurance and resistance training, and garlic extract supplementation on Bax gene expression, insulin resistance, and nitric oxide (NO) in rats with metabolic syndrome. A total of 48 rats with metabolic syndrome (aged 12-wk, mean weight of 325.36±25.22 g) were randomly divided into 6 groups (N=6) as: endurance training (ET), resistance training (RT), garlic extract supplementation (GE), endurance training along with garlic extract supplementation (ET+GE), resistance training along with garlic extract supplementation (RT+GE), and control (con). After familiarization, rats in the experimental groups completed an 8-weeks (3 sessions a week) ET or RT exercise protocol with or without GE (500 mg.kg-1.day-1) supplementation. The Rt-PCR and the Elisa methods were used to assess the Bax gene expression and the serum levels variables, respectively. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and the Tukey test (p˂0.05). The results showed that ET and RT with and without the GE consumption significantly reduced the Bax Gene expression (p=0.01) and the insulin resistance (p=0.01) but for the nitric oxide levels (p=0.01) it showed significantly increased. Moreover, increase of the nitric oxide levels in the GE group was significantly greater than the RT+GE, ET and RT groups (p=0.0001). Endurance and resistance training with GE consumption have superior effects on the nitric oxide, insulin, and glucose in rats and can decrease the expression of cardiac apoptosis marker (Bax gene).