The Effect of Low, Moderate and High Intensity Exercise Trainings on Apoptotic Indices of Testicular Tissue in Male Rats

The effect of sports training with different intensities on the induction or inhibition of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis process in testicular tissue has remained unknown.This study aimed to investigate the effect of continuous training with low intensity (LICT), moderate (MICT), and high intensity (HICT) on the apoptosis process in the testicular tissue of rats.

For this purpose, 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into LICT, MICT, HICT, and Control groups. The LICT, MICT, and HICT groups were trained with an intensity of 50-60%, 65-70%, and 80-85% of the maximum velocity, respectively. Protein and gene expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 were measured by Western Blot and quantitative PCR methods. The research data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test. 

The LICT and MICT groups showed no significant statistical changes in the Bcl-2, Bax, and Caspase-3 expression levels compared to the control group (P>0.05). However, In the HICT group, the expression of Bcl-2 decreased significantly (P=0.01) and the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 increased significantly (P<0.05). Also, the number of apoptotic cells in LICT and MICT did not show a significant change, but it increased significantly in the HICT group (P=0.001). 

It seems that eight weeks of LICT and MICT has no significant effect on the occurrence or induction of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis process in testicular tissue. While the HICT group induces the apoptosis process by decreasing the expression of Bcl-2 and increasing the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 and increasing the number of apoptotic cells in the testicular tissue.