The effect of eight weeks of HIIT on some angiogenesis indices of apelin-13 in elderly male rats

Aging causes changes in metabolic, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular functions. By developing aging process, physical activity decreases, which is mainly due to fundamental changes in body composition and lack of angiogenesis for which some indicators of angiogenesis have been found in older male mice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on angiogenesis indices in elderly male rats.

The  studied sample included 20 elderly male mice, which were randomly divided into two groups of control (n = 10) and experimental (n = 10). The experimental group repeated the HIIT in the specified intervals. The exercises were repeated after two minutes of rest, with 80% of the maximum speed in the first week, 90% in the second week, 100% in the third week, and 110% from the beginning of the fourth week, until the end of the training. To evaluate the research variables (VEGF, FGF21, NO, apelin-13), 3 ml of  peripheral blood was drawn from the tail of elderly male mice 72 hours before and after the last session of the training.

Eight weeks of HIIT significantly increased VEGF and NO  (P = 0.001). It also increased the FGF  and apelin-3 levels significantly (P = 0.0001). No significant change was observed in the control group.

The results of this study showed that eight weeks of HIIT significantly increased angiogenesis levels in elderly male rats. Therefore, HIIT can be used as an appropriate and especially alternative exercise to increase angiogenesis in the elderly individuals.