Effect of Eight Weeks of High Intensity Interval Training and Crocin Consumption on Serum Markers of Dox-induced Cardiotoxicity in Male Wistar Rats

Doxorubicin (Dox) is a very effective drug for the treatment of a wide range of cancers. However, in healthy tissues, especially cardiac tissue, it can lead to cytotoxicity. This study aims to determine the effect of 8 weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) and crocin consumption on serum markers of Dox-induced cardiotoxicity in male rats

In this study, 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: healthy control, doxorubicin, doxorubicin + HIIT,  and doxorubicin + crocin + HIIT. The HIIT program was performed for 8 weeks, five days a week, with two 2-min intervals and 80% intensity in the first week and eight 2-minute intervals and 90% intensity of maximum speed in the final weeks. The last group received 10 mg/kg body weight of crocin by gavage for 8 weeks. Dox was injected subcutaneously seven times at a dose of 2 mg/kg. Forty-eight hours after the last training session and after anesthesia, blood samples were taken directly from the left ventricle; after separating serum from plasma, the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) were measured. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance. The significance level was set at 0.05.

The Dox injection led to a significant increase in LDH and CK-MB levels in rats compared to the healthy control group (P=0.001). However, 8 weeks of HIIT significantly reduced the serum levels of LDH (P=0.001) and CK-MB (P=0.017) compared to the Dox group. In addition, 8 weeks of HIIT plus crocin consumption significantly reduced the LDH (P=0.001) and CK-MB (P=0.001) levels compared to the Dox group. There was no significant difference between the effects of HIIT alone and HIIT plus crocin consumption on the serum levels of LDH (P=0.087) and CK-MB (P=0.877) in rats received doxorubicin.

It seems that HIIT alone and in combination with crocin consumption can reduce the changes in serum levels of LDH and CK-MB induced by doxorubicin.