The Effect of Aerobic Exercise and Aqueous Extract of Portulaca Oleracea on Gene Expression of Factors Involved in Apoptosis in Rats With Colon Cancer

Colon cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Portulaca oleracea, on the other hand, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise and aqueous extract of portulaca oleracea on gene expression of factors involved in apoptosis in rats with colon cancer.

In an experimental study, 30 male Sprague-Dawley rats were selected as subjects and randomly divided into 5 groups including healthy control group, tumor-induction control, colon tumor and aerobic exercise, colon tumor and portulaca oleracea seed extract. Colon tumor + aerobic exercise and portulaca oleracea extract were divided. 10 mg azoxethane per kg body weight was used to cause colon cancer. Groups receiving portulaca oleracea extract received 75 mg of aqueous extract of portulaca oleracea intraperitoneally. The aerobic exercise program consisted of eight weeks and five weekly sessions of running on a treadmill for 60 minutes. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the mice were sacrificed and colon tissue was immediately removed from the body to measure gene expression. The amount of genes was analyzed using two-way analysis of variance.

Aerobic exercise, portulaca oleracea extract and the combination of these two interventions significantly increased the expression of BAX (p <0.001) genes, BAX to BCL-2 ratio (p <0.001), Caspase-3 (p <0.001) and decreased BCL-2 (p <0.001). No significant difference was observed between the effect of aerobic exercise and portulaca oleracea seed extract.

Aerobic exercise and aqueous extract of portulaca oleracea may control and improve the symptoms of colon cancer. Therefore, it is recommended that these two interventions be an effective method to inhibit the growth of colon cancer.