The interactive effect of swimming training and vitamin D supplements on Bcl-2 gene expression in heart tissue of cadmium-poisoned rats

Introduction: Apoptosis mechanism is one of the most important ways to remove unwanted cells, which is done in the body of porcelain organisms and even single cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the interactive effect of swimming training and vitamin D supplements on Bcl-2 gene expression in heart tissue of cadmium-poisoned rats Material & Methods: Forty two male Sprague Dawley rats randomly divided into seven groups including, (1) control, (2) sham, (3) swimming, (4) vitamin D, (5) interval swimming + weight, (6) swimming + vitamin D, and (7) interval swimming + Vitamin D + weight. The Rats in groups 3,5,6,7 swam for 4 weeks and 5 sessions per week. 5 μg vitamin D3 was dissolved in 150 μl sesame oil and injected intraperitoneally to groups 4,6,7 every two days. After the 4 weeks of intervention, rats in all groups were peritoneally exposed to 2mg/kg of cadmium. At the end of protocol, the rats were sacrificed and their heart tissues were removed to measure gene expression of Bcl-2. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc tests. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference in Bcl-2 gene expression between swimming groups, vitamin D and interval training swimming + weight with control group. Interactive effect of swimming and vitamin D on the increase of Bcl-2 gene expression in the cadmium-exposed rats is significant. Conclusions: Based on the results, it was inferred that the combination of swimming training (especially swimming with weight) with vitamin D supplementation could increase the Bcl-2 gene expression as an anti-apoptotic protein in the heart.