Abstract
: Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate toxin used to control agricultural pests that cause oxidative stress, apoptosis, and cell destruction in various body tissues, including the heart. The expression of Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin plays a crucial role in cardiac fibrosis development. No study has investigated changes in the function of these genes following physical activity and eugenol supplementation in chlorpyrifos intoxication. The present study investigated the independent and interactive effect of aerobic exercise and eugenol supplementation on the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression in the heart tissue of rats poisoned with chlorpyrifos. Forty-two male rats were divided into seven groups: healthy control, healthy receiving DMSO as chlorpyrifos toxin solvent, healthy receiving corn oil as eugenol solvent, poisoned control, aerobic exercise poisoning, eugenol poisoning, aerobic poisoning, and eugenol poisoning. The expression of the desired genes in the hearts of rats was measured after providing the intervention. Data were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc tests. Statistical significance was considered when P ≤ 0.05. Poisoning significantly increased the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression in the heart tissue. The use of exercise and supplementation reduced the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression, each independently, in the hearts of poisoned rats. Exercise-eugenol interaction did not significantly reduce the gene expression than exercise or supplementation alone. Overall, the present study showed the positive role of exercise and eugenol in reducing chronic cardiac toxicity on Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression.