Jorjani Biomedicine Journal

Background and Objective: Effects of resistance training and herbal supplements on cardiac signaling pathways are sparsely reported in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate the CITED4 gene expression in the cardiac muscle of male rats as a result of resistance exercise and spirulina supplementation.
Material and Methods: Thirty-two rats (male - Sprague Dally) were grouped into 4 groups (1. resistance training: RE, 2. spirulina + resistance training: SP +RE, 3. spirulina platensis: SP, 4. control: Co, n = 8). The training program was performed for healthy training groups 5 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Supplementation included 200 mg/kg/ day of Spirulina for the supplement groups. Real-time PCR was used to measure gene expression. We used of Two-way ANOVA in SPSS (p<0.05).
Results: In comparison with the control group, we observed a significant increase in CITED4 gene expression in RE (P= 0.001) and RE+SP (P= 0.001) groups. Also, there was a significant difference in CEBP gene expression between CO with RE (P= 0.001), SP (P= 0.034), RE+SP (P= 0.001) groups.
Conclusion: Spirulina supplementation alone has no effect on the signaling pathway of cardiac hypertrophy. However, if used concomitantly with resistance training, it can affect the signal pathway of cardiac hypertrophy.

Background and Objective: Aging is the major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases as aging increases plasma levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and endothelial dysfunction. Physical exercise and spirulina improve the endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammation that accompanies aging. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Aerobic Exercise (AT), with blue-algae Spirulina Supplementation (SP) on the indicators of endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance in overweight adult men.
Material and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 40 overweight adult men (age 57.50±4.84 years, Body mass index: BMI 26.90±2.85 kg/m2) were selected from Bandar-e-Anzali and randomly allocated into five groups; including Control-Normal (CN), Overweight (OW), Overweight-Aerobic Training (OWAT), Overweight-Spirulina (OWSP) and Overweight-Aerobic Training -Spirulina (OWATSP). Training groups participated in an aerobic exercise program for eight weeks, five sessions per week (with an intensity of 65 to 85% of peak heart rate, 40 minutes). The OWSP and OWATSP groups were provided with two 500 mg SP tablets daily in the morning and evening. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test and ANCOVA at a significance level of
P <0.05.
Results: The levels of endothelin-1(ET-1), Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1), Selectin-E, and HOMA-IR index in the OW group were higher than CN (P≤0.05). AT and SP significantly reduced ET-1, ICAM-1, Selectin-E, and HOMA-IR (P≤0.05). In the OWATSP group, the levels of ET-1, ICAM-1, Selectin-E, and HOMA-IR were significantly lower than OW and OWSP (P≤0.05). NO levels significantly decreased in OWATSP and OWAT (P≤0.05).
Conclusion: Aerobic training and spirulina supplementation could improve the endothelial function in overweight adult men, by altering the levels of ET-1, ICAM-1, Selectin-E, and NO. However, the simultaneous effect of AT with SP on these indices was better. Improved endothelial function was associated with an improvement in insulin resistance index.

Background: Obesity leads to neuronal apoptosis and cognitive impairment by increasing inflammation and oxidative stress. Although the beneficial role of exercise and antioxidant supplements have been reported separately, their interactive effect on neuronal apoptosis in obesity is still not well known. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of HIIT with Sp supplementation on apoptotic markers in the hippocampal tissue of high-fat diet-(HFD) induced obese rats.
Methods: In this experimental study, 24 obese male Sprague-Dawley rats (60% fat, 20% protein, and 20% carbohydrates) were randomly divided into four groups of six rats, including 1) HFD, 2) HFD+Sp, 3) HFD+HIIT, and 4) HFD+HIIT+Sp. Also, six healthy rats were selected as the HC group to investigate the effects of HFD on research variables. Subsequently, HIIT was performed for eight weeks, three sessions per week with an intensity of 80-110% of maximum running speed and 2-8 high-intensity intervals. Also, Sp supplement was taken orally during this period with a dose of 100 mg/kg/day. Bax and BCL-2 levels were measured with qRT-PCR method. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post-hoc tests were used for statistical analysis of data (p ≤0.05).
Results: In the HFD+HIIT and HFD+HIIT+Sp groups, Bax levels and Bax/BCL-2 ratio were lower and BCL-2 levels were higher than the HFD group (p=0.001). In the HFD+Sp group, BCL-2 levels were higher and Bax/BCL-2 ratios were lower than HFD group (p=0.008). Also, in the HFD+HIIT and HFD+HIIT+Sp groups, Bax levels and Bax/BCL ratio were lower and BCL-2 levels were higher than HFD+Sp group (p≤0.05). In addition, in the HFD+HIIT+Sp group, Bax levels were lower and BCL-2 levels were higher than in the HFD+HIIT group (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: It seems that although HIIT and Sp supplement separately have an anti-apoptotic effect, their interactive effect on inhibiting neuronal apoptosis in brain tissue in obesity conditions is more obvious than the effect of each one alone.