The Effect of Six Week Resistance Training on Muscle Regeneration in Tumor- Bearing BALB-C Mice

 Many cancer patients suffer from cachexia or cancer-induced muscle atrophy. Cachexia can have various causes one of which is the reduction of muscle regeneration. Resistance training has been suggested as one of the proper stimulator of increasing muscular regeneration. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of resistance training on two factors of regeneration including PAX7 and eMHC, tumor-free weight and tumor weight of mice.

This study was a kind of experimental intervention. Subjects of the study included 10 BALB-C mice (age: 6 weeks) which CT-26  tumor was transplanted to them. Mice were divided into two groups of resistance training (n=5) and control (n=5) randomly. Training group performed six-week progressive resistance training and control groups were kept in cages without any exercise intervention. At the end of the experiment, gastrocnemius muscle was taken for evaluating related factors. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test.

There was no significant difference in PAX7 between two groups of training and control, but eMHC reduced significantly in training compared to the control group (P=0.038). Tumor-free bodyweight of training group increased significantly compared to the control group (P=0.0004) and there was no significant difference in tumor weight between two groups of training and control.

 Although resistance training does not increase tumor growth but probably reduce some muscle regeneration factors in cancer-bearing mice. So, for improving muscular regeneration in cachexia bearing patients, probably resistance training is not a good choice. However, more future researches are required.