The Interactive Effect of Interval Training Intensity and Curcumin Supplementation on Mitochondrial Bnip3 and Parkin Gene Expression in the Heart Tissue of Male Rats' Model of Heart Infarction

The increase of Bnip3 and Parkin plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial function and inhibiting ROS. A correlation was observed between the mitochondrial respiratory capacity and the subjects' mRNA levels of Bnip3 and Parkin proteins as a result of exercise, which shows the significant role of mitochondrial dynamics on the improvement of respiratory capacity. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training and curcumin supplementation on Bnip3 and parkin mitochondrial gene expression levels in cardiomyocytes of male heart attack model rats.

In this experimental study, 32 male Wistar rats were subjected to myocardial infarction using intraperitoneal injection of isoproterenol (100 mg/kg for two consecutive days) and, after confirmation of infarction (troponin measurement), randomly divided into four groups; Control, high-intensity interval training, curcumin (pure curcumin 15mg and dimethyl sulfoxide with a concentration of 10% per kg of body weight five days a week by gavage) and combination group (supplement+exercise).The exercise and combination groups were subjected to high-intensity interval training (10 bouts of four-minute activity with an intensity of 85-90% VO2max) for eight weeks. Bnip3 and Parkin gene expression levels were obtained using the Real-time PCR method. The data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and one-way analysis of variance.

The results showed that there is a significant difference between the mean of the groups in Bnip3 and parkin gene expression levels. The results of Tukey's test showed that the expression level of Bnip3 and Parkin genes was higher in the intense interval training and exercise-supplement groups than in the control and supplement groups. There was no significant difference between the supplement and control groups; in fact the use of curcumin without training did not affect Bnip3 and PARKIN gene expression levels compared to the control group.

This study shows that intermittent exercise and curcumin consumption have a protective effect on mitochondrial quality during infarction.