The effect of 12-week aerobic trainings on mitochondrial biogenesis indicators in skeletal muscle among male rats

Background: The mitochondrial protein sirtuin (SIRT) 3 may mediate exercise training-induced increases in mitochondrial biogenesis(activation of PGC1-α) and improvements in free radicals (Increase of SOD) handling. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks aerobic training on skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis biomarkers in male rats.

Methods: In this experimental study, 17 male rat in a randomly and design were allocated in two equal groups: aerobic training group(AT) and control group(C). Aerobic exercise was performed on a treadmill for 12 weeks and 5 days a week with an intensity of 80-75% of maximum oxygen consumption (24-33 m/min with a 15% slope). Initially, during a five-week period, the duration of exercise was increased from 10 to 60 minutes in every day and was maintained until the end of the period. Gene expression or mRNA of SIRT3, PGC1-α and SOD2 proteins of soleus muscle tissue was evaluated by RT-PCR. Independent Sample T-test were used to determine the changes in two groups. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 18(P< 0.05).

Results: The body and muscle weight in AT were less than control group. However, the ratio of muscle weight to weight in the AT was higher than control group. Also, 12 weeks aerobic training significantly increased the expression of SIRT3, PGC1-α and SOD.

Conclusion: It seems that increasing the expression of SIRT3, PGC1-α and SOD plays an important role in adaptations resulting from aerobic training.