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Background and aims: Postmenopausal is associated with heart and metabolic disorders. Although the beneficial role of physical activity and antioxidants in human health has been reported; However, the interactive effects of Aerobic training (AT) and Propolis (Pr) on mitochondrial biogenesis in cardiac tissue is not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of AT with Pr on AMP-activated protein kinases (AMPK) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC1α) in the heart of ovariectomized diabetic rats.
Methods: 30 ovariectomized diabetic (40 mg/kg .ip, Stroptozotocin) rats, aged 16-12 weeks and weight 250-220 g were divided in 5 groups; (1) Control ovariectomized diabetic (COD), (2) Sham (Sh), (3) Pr, (4) AT and (5) AT + Pr. Also, 6 healthy rats were divided in Healthy Control (HC) group. Groups 4 and 5 trained for eight weeks, five sessions per week with 55-75% VO2max; Groups 3 and 5 received 100 mg/kg/day of Pr. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test in GraphPad Prism 8.3.3 software were used to analyze the data (P≥0.05).
Results: AMPK and PGC1α in AT group were significantly higher than COD and Sh groups (P≥0.05); PGC1α gene expression in Pr group was significantly higher than Sh group (P≥0.05). Also, AMPK and PGC1α gene expression in AT + Pr group were significantly higher than COD and Sh groups (P≥0.05).
Conclusion: It seems that the AT and Pr have beneficial effect on mitochondrial biogenesis in cardiac tissue following estrogen deficiency and diabetes. Therefore, the Pr and AT is recommended in ovariectomized and diabetic models.