Effects of 10 weeks endurance exercise on mRNA expressions of angiogenesis factors of skeletal muscle following myocardial infarction in rats

The effect of exercise training on skeletal muscle angiogenesis in myocardial infarction rats is not yet clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise training on the gene expressions of angiogenesis factors in the soleus muscle following myocardial infarction (MI) in rats.
Material and Four weeks after the MI surgical procedures, 30 Wistar male rats were divided to the following groups: sham, MI-control and MI-exercise. The rats were subjected to aerobic training with moderate intensity for 10 weeks. After the last exercise-training session, soleus capillary density and the expression of angiogenic gene factors were measured by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively.
Capillary density and capillary to fiber ratio (C/F) significantly decreased 14 weeks after MI. Exercise training significantly increased capillary density and C/F ratio in soleus muscle. Furthermore, HIF-1 and TGF-β gene expression respectively increased and decreased, but, VEGF, FGF-2 and angiostatin gene expression did not changed in soleus muscle after training.
Results showed that MI significantly decreased soleus muscle capillary density. Furthermore, 10 weeks moderate endurance exercise ameliorate capillary density and C/F ratio, parallel to HIF-1 up regulation, TGF-β down regulation and unchanged VEGF, FGF-2 and angiostatin gene expression in soleus muscle after myocardial infarction.