effects of tabata exercise volume and royal jelly supplementation on nlrp3 inflammasome and lncrna-h19 expression in obese men

Background: both coding and long non-coding rnas (lncrnas) have emerged as vital regulators in almost every cellular process, and their expression can be modulated by external stimuli, such as physical exercise. objectives: the current research aimed to investigate the effects of different volumes of tabata-high-intensity interval training (hiit) exercises combined with royal jelly (rj) supplementation on the nlrp3 inflammasome and lncrna-h19 expression in obese males. methods: forty-two healthy men [body mass index (bmi) = 30 kg/m², waist-to-hip ratio = 0.95, age range: 40 - 60 years] volunteered to participate in the study. the individuals were randomly divided into five experimental groups (n = 35) and one control + placebo group (n = 7). the high-volume (hv) or low-volume (lv) tabata exercise programs were performed twice a week for 8 weeks. participants in the rj supplementation groups received a 1000 mg capsule once a day for 8 weeks. the expression of nlrp3 and lncrna-h19 genes was evaluated using the real-time pcr method. results: the nlrp3 gene expression in the bruce test, measured before and after the 8-week exercise interventions and rj supplementation, showed insignificant changes across the different groups. however, the h19 gene expression in the bruce test showed a significant reduction in the hv-tabata hiit intervention groups, which was more pronounced than in the lv groups after 8 weeks: hv group (p = 0.004), rj group (p = 0.001), hv + rj group (p = 0.007), and lv + rj group (p = 0.002). after 8 weeks of non-pharmacological interventions involving exercise training and supplementation, a significant decrease in nlrp3 and a significant increase in h19 gene expression were detected in the hv group compared to the lv group (p = 0.05 and p = 0.010). significant improvement was also found in the resting h19 levels between the rj and lv groups (p = 0.011) and the lv + rj group (p = 0.44). moreover, a significant reduction in resting nlrp3 gene expression was observed between the rj + lv and lv groups (p = 0.038). conclusions: chronic hv tabata hiit exercise, when combined with rj supplementation, is effective in attenuating inflammatory responses to acute stress.