Regular Aerobic Exercise and Vitamin D3 SupplementationReduced Anthropometric Measures and the Hydrogen PeroxideInduced Expression of TNFα in Rats

Introduction: Inflammation, oxidative stress (OS), and obesity are documented to play key roles in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Accordingly, tumor necrosis factorα (TNFα) and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), as a main innate immunity proinflammatory cytokine and a main free radical, respectively, are the main risk factors for CVDs. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of OS, regular aerobic exercise (RAE), and vitamin D3 (VD3) on the expression of TNFα in the myocardial cells in a rat model. Methods: In this experimental study, 48 male Wistar rats were divided into 8 groups (6 in each group) including healthy controls, sham (injected with dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO] + saline), H2 O2 (either 1 or 2 mmol/kg), H2 O2 (1 mmol/kg) + VD3, H2 O2 (2 mmol/kg) + VD3, H2O2 (1 mmol/kg) + RAE, and H2 O2 (2 mmol/kg) + RAE. TNFα level of myocardial cells was evaluated after 8 weeks using the ELISA technique. Results: The results of the study demonstrated that exposure to 2 mmol/kg of H2 O2 significantly increased TNFα level of myocardial cells compared to the rats which were exposed to one mmol/ kg H2 O2 (P=0.039). Furthermore, RAE (P=0.040), and the combination of RAE+VD3 (P=0.049) significantly reduced the expression of myocardial TNFα. Conclusion: In general, VD3 and RAE were found to suppress TNFα expression induced by H2 O2 in the rat myocardium. Therefore, they can be considered as potential therapeutic interventions for reducing OSinduced inflammation in the damaged myocardial cells.