Effect of Interval Training and Curcumin on BAX, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 Enzyme Activity in Rats

Abstract

Background: Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death in extracellular organisms. High-intensity interval training and curcumin can make some changes in this process. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the role of intense interval training with curcumin supplementation on BAX and Bcl-2 proteins and caspase-3 enzyme activity in rats. Methods: In this study, 48 elderly rats were randomly divided into four groups: (1) control, (2) training, (3) curcumin, and (4) training + curcumin. Then, high-intensity interval training group rats ran on the treadmill for eight weeks, five sessions per week, for 30 - 50 min, and curcumin was fed to the supplement group at 25 mg/kg of body weight three times per week for eight weeks. Gene expression levels of BAX and Bcl-2 and myocardial caspase enzyme were measured in the heart tissue. The Shapiro-Wilk test, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey test were used for data analysis. Results: Curcumin consumption and intense interval training increased the expression of BAX (P = 0.001), Bcl-2 (P = 0.002), and caspase (P = 0.001). Besides, BAX, Bcl-2, and caspase genes expression significantly changed in the groups compared to the control group. The ratio of BAX to Bcl-2 in the curcumin group and interval training was significantly lower than the other groups. The Tukey post hoc test confirmed a significant difference between the groups and the control group. Conclusions: High-intensity interval training did not reduce BAX protein, but the training and curcumin supplementation increased Bcl-2 protein expression and neutralized the BAX effect. Curcumin supplementation combined with intense interval training resulted in synergy and reduced cell programming mortality.