Comparison of the Effect of High Intensity Interval Training and Moderate Intensity Continuous Training on Gene Expressionof Il-6 and Nf-Κb in Lung Tissue of Old and Young Male Rats

Aging is accompanied by an increase in inflammation in the tissues of the body, which also causes lung inflammation. This study aimed to compare the effect of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on gene expression of NF-κB and IL-6 in lung tissue of old and young male rats.

In total, 42 young and old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, namely young control, old control, young continuous training, old continuous training, young high-intensity interval training, and old high-intensity interval training. The training protocol included high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training during six-week (5 sessions per week). The gene expression of NF-κB and IL-6 were evaluated using a real-time polymerase chain reaction technique, and the data were analyzed through a one-way analysis of variance and the Scheffe post hoc test (P<0.05).

There were significant differences between old control and old continuous training (P<0.001), old control and old high-intensity interval training (P<0.001), as well as old continuous training and old high-intensity interval training groups (P=0.007) regarding the gene expression of NF-κB. Moreover, significant differences were observed between old control and old continuous training (P<0.001), as well as old control and old high-intensity interval training groups (P=0.006) in terms of the gene expression of IL-6. In addition, there was a significant difference between young high-intensity interval training and old high-intensity interval training groups (P=0.035) regarding the gene expression of IL-6.

According to the results, both high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training can result in the prevention of the incidence of aging-related diseases and disorders as well as the reduction of inflammatory factors in lung tissue in aged rats. However, it seems that moderate-intensity continuous training is more effective than high-intensity interval training.