The role of 3 months of regular aerobic training on some factors of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in cardiac tissue of male Wistar rats

Apoptosis in post-mitotic tissue such as the heart is fatal due to the unable to proliferate and loss of cardiomyocytes is irreplaceable. However, exercise training could be effective in reducing apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 3 months of regular aerobic training on some factors of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in cardiac tissue of male Wistar rats.

The research was applied study that conducted in the form of an experimental project with a control group. Thirty one male Wistar rats with an average weight of 173.80 ± 9.21 grams were divided into three homogeneous groups including three-months control (n=10), six-months control (n=10) and aerobic training group (n=11).The aerobic training group participated in aerobic training with 75 to 80 percent of maximal oxygen consumption for 3 months. After the implementation of the training protocol, the surgical procedures and cardiac tissue extraction were performed and gene expression of Bax and Bcl-2 of cardiac tissue was assessed by RT-PCR. Results extracted by one-way of variance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test at a significance level of p<0.05.

The results showed the significant increase in Bcl-2 gene expression during aerobic training compared to the six-month control group (p=0.001). However, the expression of Bax gene in the aerobic training group did not show any significant changes compared to the control group (p=0.21).

Regular aerobic exercise can play a significant role for controlling mitochondrial apoptosis of cardiac tissue.