the effect of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on oxidative stress markers in left ventricular tissue of male rats

Objectives: the present study aimed to assess and compare the effects of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on oxidative stress-related markers in the left ventricular tissue of the heart muscle in healthy male rats.methods: fifteen male wistar rats, aged 50-70 days, were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (con), high-intensity interval training (hiit), and moderate-intensity continuous training (mict). after determining the maximum speed of vo2max, the training program of hiit (six 2-min periods with 85%-90% vo2max and five 2-min with 50%-60% vo2max intensity) and mict (same distance of running as hiit with 70% vo2max intensity) groups were performed for 8 weeks, 5 days per week. forty-eight hours after the last intervention session, the animals were anesthetized, and their heart tissue was removed and stored at -80°c. then, the expression rates of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (pgc-1α), amp-activated protein kinase (ampk), and superoxide dismutase (sod) genes were measured by real-time pcr, and the concentration of malondialdehyde (mda) in left ventricular tissue of heart was measured by colorimetry method. one-way analysis of variance and tukey post hoc test were used for data analysis at the significance level of p<0.05.results: there were significant differences between the groups’ expression rates of ampk, pgc-1α, and sod (p<0.05). the expression rates of ampk and pgc-1α were higher in the mict group than in the con group (p<0.05). no significant difference was observed between hiit and mict groups regarding ampk and pgc-1α (p>0.05). sod expression was significantly higher in the hiit group than con and mict groups (p<0.05). sod expression was also higher in the mict group compared to the con group (p<0.05). mda concentration was not significantly different between the studied groups (p>0.05).discussion: hiit and mict induce positive adaptations in the expression of ampk, pgc-1α, and sod in the heart tissue of healthy male rats. however, hiit stimulates sod gene expression more than mict.