Evaluation of CITED4 Gene Expression in The Cardiac Muscle of Male Rats as a Result of Resistance Exercise and Spirulina Supplement

Effects of resistance training and herbal supplements on cardiac signaling pathways are sparsely reported in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate the CITED4 gene expression in the cardiac muscle of male rats as a result of resistance exercise and spirulina supplementation.

Thirty-two rats (male - Sprague Dally) were grouped into 4 groups (1. resistance training: RE, 2. spirulina + resistance training: SP +RE, 3. spirulina platensis: SP, 4. control: Co, n = 8). The training program was performed for healthy training groups 5 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Supplementation included 200 mg/kg/ day of Spirulina for the supplement groups. Real-time PCR was used to measure gene expression. We used of Two-way ANOVA in SPSS (p<0.05).

In comparison with the control group, we observed a significant increase in CITED4 gene expression in RE (P= 0.001) and RE+SP (P= 0.001) groups. Also, there was a significant difference in CEBP gene expression between CO with RE (P= 0.001), SP (P= 0.034), RE+SP (P= 0.001) groups.

Spirulina supplementation alone has no effect on the signaling pathway of cardiac hypertrophy. However, if used concomitantly with resistance training, it can affect the signal pathway of cardiac hypertrophy.