effect of eight weeks of resistance training with spirulina supplementation on cardiac troponin t, brain natriuretic peptide, and creatine kinase in the myocardium

Introduction: exercise and dietary supplementation influence various biomarkers of myocardial cell damage differently. this study aims to examine the effects of eight weeks of resistance training combined with spirulina supplementation on changes in cardiac troponin t (ctnt), brain natriuretic peptide (bnp), and creatine kinase-myocardial band (ck-mb) to assess myocardial damage. methods: thirty-two male sprague-dawley rats (150±20 g, 9 weeks old) were randomly assigned into four groups: control (co), resistance training (rt), spirulina supplementation (sp), and resistance training with spirulina supplementation (rts). spirulina was orally administered to sp and rts groups at a dose of 200 mg/kg/day—the rt protocol involved climbing a 1-meter-high ladder over eight weeks. the ctnt, bnp, and ck-mb expression levels were quantified using real-time pcr. results: eight weeks of resistance training led to a significant increase in ctnt (p=0.044), bnp (p=0.001), and ck-mb (p=0.015) levels. in contrast, spirulina supplementation, both alone and combined with resistance training, significantly reduced ctnt (sp: p=0.005; rts: p=0.001) and bnp (sp: p=0.002; rts: p=0.0001) levels, with a more significant reduction observed in the rts group. ck-mb levels also decreased in the sp group (p=0.001) and showed a non-significant trend in the rts group (p=0.115). conclusion: spirulina supplementation mitigates myocardial damage during resistance training by reducing biomarkers indicative of myocardial injury. these findings suggest that spirulina could be a protective agent against cardiac stress induced by resistance exercise.