The effect of eight weeks resistance and aerobic training on myostatin and follistatin expression in cardiac muscle of rats

Introduction: The clinical studies have shown that the myostatin gene expression and its serum density occur more frequently in heart patients than in healthy individuals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of 8-week resistance and aerobic exercise on the myostatin and follistatin gene expression of myocardium muscle of healthy male Wistar rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 20 five-week-old adult Wistar rats (250 ± 26.5 g) were divided into three groups: healthy control group (n = 6), resistance exercise group (n = 7), and aerobic exercise group (n = 7). The resistance and aerobic exercise plan consisted of 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week. The resistance exercise group performed climbing a one-meter 26-stair ladder with a slope of 85 degrees for 3 sets of 5 repetitions per session. The aerobic exercise group performed running at a speed of 12 meters per minute for 30 minutes during the first sessions gradually increasing up to a speed of 30 meters per minute for 60 minutes during the final sessions (equivalent to 70% to 80% of maximum oxygen consumption). The differences between the groups were evaluated using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. When appropriate, LSD post-hoc test was used. The significance level for the study was less than 0.05. Results: The results of this study shows that after 8 weeks of exercise, there is no significant difference between myostatin mRNA gene expression levels of the heart muscle among the three groups of control, resistance exercise, and aerobic exercise (P = 0.172, F = 1.953). However, the mean differences between follistatin mRNA levels of the heart muscle among the three groups of control, resistance exercise, and aerobic exercise are statistically significant (F = 38.022, P = 0.001). Furthermore, the ratio of follistatin to myostatin mRNA gene expression of the heart muscle (P = 0.001, F = 10.288) shows significant difference among the three groups. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the resistance and aerobic exercise could cause a decrease in myostatin and an increase in follistatin levels, thus preventing many muscular physiological disorders such as arthritis and muscle weakness.