Effects of open and closed-skill exercises on serum levels of Cathepsin B, Irisin, BDNF and Doublecortin in female wrestlers

Open and closed-skill exercises have different effects on cognition and memory in humans. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of a resistance training session and a wrestling training session on serum levels of Cathepsin B, Irisin, BDNF and Doublecortin in female wrestlers.

In this quasi-experimental study, 11 female wrestlers (age: 21.18±2.89 years, weight: 62.18±8.41 kg, height: 167.00±3.97 cm) voluntarily participated. The wrestling training and resistance training sessions each lasted for 1 hour. There was a week between two training sessions. Blood samples were taken 5 min before and after both exercise sessions. ELISA kits were used to measure serum levels of Cathepsin B, Irisin, BDNF and Doublecortin. Data were analyzed using paired samples t-test and ANCOVA and level of significant was set at p<0.05.

The results showed that serum concentrations of BDNF, DCX and Cathepsin B increased significantly after both training sessions (p<0.05). Also, the results of covariance test showed that serum levels of BDNF and DCX after wrestling training session increased significantly more than resistance training session (p<0.05) and serum Cathepsin B level significantly increased after resistance training session more than the wrestling training session (p<0.05). Also, after both training sessions, serum levels of Irisin did not change significantly.

It seems that open and closed-skill exercises have different effects on serum levels of factors related to cognitive function, learning and memory. Therefore, it is recommended to use open-skill exercise along with resistance training to improve these functions.