The Effect of Aerobic Exercise and Melatonin Consumption on the Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 Markers in Rat Myocard after Ischemia-Reperfusion

Background: This research aimed to examine the effect of aerobic exercise and melatonin consumption on the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 markers in rat myocard after ischemia-reperfusion by isoprenaline. Methods: 30 two- to three-months-old male Wistar rats were used weighing approximately 200-250 g. They were divided into five groups of pilot (n = 14), control (n = 4), melatonin (n = 4), aerobic (n = 4), and melatonin-aerobic (n = 4). Rats in melatonin and melatonin-aerobic groups were gavaged every day for one month using a dose of 10 mg per kg body-weight. Meanwhile, rats in aerobic and melatonin-aerobic groups were familiar with running on treadmill for one week, and then, they were exposed training course with frequency of three times weekly for one month. After one month, all the rats were injected isoprenaline with dose of 150 and 125 mg per kg body-weight in two consecutive days with 24-hours interval. Finally, rats were sacrificed after confirmation of infarct. Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 gene were studied via real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Data were analyzed using 2-∆∆ct formula and one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Findings: Separately, melatonin treatment and aerobic training had negligible effect on expression of Bax and Bcl-2 genes. But, combination of aerobic exercise and melatonin significantly decreased and increased the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 genes, respectively, compared to treatment with melatonin alone. Conclusion: However, it seems that aerobic exercise with consuming melatonin in a longer term can reduce the amount of possible myocardial infarction.