Effect of Aerobic Exercise With Blood Flow Restriction on Mitochondrial Dynamics Proteins of Human Skeletal Muscles

 Aerobic exercise with Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) plays an important role in skeletal muscle adaptation; however, the effects of this type of exercise on mitochondrial dynamics proteins are unclear. 
Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise with and without BFR on mitochondrial dynamics proteins of human skeletal muscles.  

 Participants were 5 young men (mean age, 33.4±2.30 years; mean weight, 79.64±10.49 kg; BMI, 26.24±2.27 kg/m2). They performed aerobic exercise with BFR (AE+BFR) and without BFR (AE) in two separate days at five 2-min sessions and 1 min rest between the sessions. Western Blot method was used to measure the protein levels of Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) and Dynamin-Related Protein 1 (DRP1) in skeletal muscles. 

 AE+BFR (1.02±0.05 vs. 0.77±0.03) and AE (0.65±0.08 vs 0.57±0.03) significantly increased the mean MFN2 protein level compared to the pre-test mean values (P<0.05). AE+BFR (3.54±0.46 and 5.01±0.66) and AE (3.38±0.38 vs. 2.82±0.59) also significantly reduced the mean DRP1 level (P<0.05). Moreover, AE+BFR had greater significant effect on the mean levels of MFN2 (0.24±0.01 vs. 0.08±0.04) and DRP1 (-1.46±0.22 vs. -0.33±0.12) compared to AE (P<0.05).

 It seems that aerobic exercise with BFR is a strong stimulant for the improvement of skeletal muscle mitochondrial dynamics.