The Effect of a Period of Moderate Endurance Training and High Interval Training on Activin Receptor Type II in Heart, and Plasma Levels of Myostatin in Male Rats

Exercise trainings have beneficial effects on myocardium by changing the concentration of growth factors and their receptors. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a period of moderate endurance training and high interval training on activin receptor type II in heart, and plasma levels of myostatin in male rats.

After the familiarization period, 30 male rats with three months of age limitation were randomly divided to equal three groups of control, moderate endurance training, and high interval training. Moderate endurance training was continued for 8 weeks, each week 5 sessions, and every session, 80 minutes with intensity of 50-60 percent, as well as high interval training with intensity of 85-90 percent of rats’ power with a ramp of 20 degrees. Activin receptor type II in the myocardial left ventricle was measured using immunohistochemistry (IHC) method, and myostatin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests at the significance level of P < 0.050.

In between groups comparison, there was a significant difference between the training and control groups in myostatin level (P = 0.001), but there was no significant difference between moderate endurance training and high interval training (P = 0.050). There was also no significant difference between the groups in myocardium activin receptor type II (P = 0.050).

 It cautiously seems that moderate endurance training with high interval training have desirable effects on reducing myostatin, with no significant difference between the types of trainings.