Effect of 12-week aerobic training on cardiac p53 and AIF gene expression in male rats

Background: Apoptosis plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure. Current evidence suggests that exercise training may alter apoptosis-related signaling in sensitive somatic tissues such as myocardium. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of twelve weeks aerobic training on cardiac p53 and AIF gene expression in male rats.

Methods: In this experimental study, 16 three-month-old male rats were randomly assigned into two groups of exercise (n=8; weight: 202.3±18.6) and control (n=8; weight: 251.7±22.6). Exercise group were subjected to an aerobic exercise program at the intensity of 75-80% over 12 weeks. 48 hours after the last exercise session, cardiac muscles were extracted to be analyzed for p53 and AIF mRNA expression by Real Time-PCR method. Independent t-test was applied for statistical analysis of the data and significance level was set at P<0.05.

Results: The p53 gene expression in the exercise group was significantly higher than the control group (70%, P<0.05). Furthermore, AIF gene expression was significantly higher in the exercise group than the control (17.54%, P<0.05).

Conclusion: It seems that 12 weeks endurance training was effective in increasing cardiac mitochondrial apoptotic protein. However, more researches are needed to identify effects of exercise trainings on indices of myocardial apoptosis.