The effect of aerobic exercise and pomegranate juice consumption on serum levels of estrogen, progesterone and P53 protein in women with breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of death due to cancer among women. This study was performed with aim to compare the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise and pomegranate juice supplementation on serum levels of estrogen, progesterone and P53 protein in women with breast cancer.

This quasi-experimental study was performed as pretest and posttest in 2019 on 40 women with breast cancer in Qom province. The subjects were randomly divided into four groups: control, pomegranate juice, aerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise + pomegranate juice consumption (n=10 in each group). The groups of aerobic exercise and aerobic exercise + pomegranate juice consumption performed aerobic exercise for 8 weeks and 3 sessions each week. Also, the groups of pomegranate juice consumption consumed 100 cc of pomegranate juice on the day of the training session fasting. 4 cc blood samples were taken from the participants 48 hours before and after the implementation of the protocol to evaluate the research variables. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software (version 20) and independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The results showed that 8 weeks of aerobic exercise significantly decreased serum levels of estrogen, progesterone (p <0.05) and significantly increased p53 protein levels (p <0.05) in women with breast cancer. According to the results of the study, estrogen and progesterone decreased in pomegranate juice consumption and aerobic exercise groups, but this decrease was not significant (p <0.05). The results also showed that consumption of pomegranate juice for eight weeks caused  no significant decrease in estrogen and progesterone levels and a significant increase in p53 levels in women with breast cancer (p <0.05).

Aerobic exercise + pomegranate juice consumption reduces the risk factors for breast cancer and increases the protein associated with p53 cell death in women with cancer.