The Study of the Effect of Interval Aerobic Training and Ziziphus Jujuba Extract on Apoptotic Factors in Rats with Myocardial Infarction

Ischemia increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress which leads to cellular damage, either through directly affecting membrane and proteins or indirectly stimulating apoptotic pathways. One of the plants with anti-oxidative effect is Jujube, which can decrease the production of free radicals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of interval aerobic training and Jujube extract on apoptotic factors in rats with myocardial infarction. In this experimental study, 36 male wistar rats which received myocardial infarction with cardiac ischemia induced by subcutaneous injection of Isoprenaline were selected. The rats were then randomly assigned to one of the following six groups: control-healthy, control infraction, sham, control infraction + jujube extract, interval aerobic training + infarction, interval aerobic training + infarction + jujube extract. The interval aerobic training protocol consisted of five 4-min. sets at 70-75%Vo2max, and five 4-min. sets of active rests with 55-60%Vo2max. Data were analyzed applying Shapiro–Wilk test, One-way ANOVA, and Tukey post-hoc test at >α0.05. The results showed that Isoprenaline-induced infarction significantly increased the caspase3 levels of the heart tissue in the infarction group compared with the healthy group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between interval aerobic training, jujube extract and training + extract group and infarction group in this index (P>0.05). Interval aerobic training + jujube extract showed a significant increase in Bcl-2 index of heart tissue (P<0.05). However, no significant changes were observed in other groups in this index (P>0.05). Therefore, it seems that interval aerobic training and jujube extract can help to suppress heart cell apoptosis after myocardial infarction and also decrease the damage to the heart tissue by increasing Bcl-2 in the heart tissue.