Modulating Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Apoptosis Markers in Cardiac Cells of Diabetic Rats With Morphine Deprivation Syndrome

Background: Diabetes and morphine play important role in cardiac apoptosis. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of eight weeks of aerobic training on apoptosis indices in the heart tissue of diabetic rats with morphine withdrawal syndrome. Methods: In this study, 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: diabetic control, diabetic control+morphine withdrawal syndrome, diabetic+aerobic exercise, and diabetic+morphine withdrawal syndrome+aerobic exercise. Then the induction of diabetes and morphine was done. The training groups participated in an increasing treadmill running program for 8 weeks (three sessions per week). 24 h after the last training session, heart tissue was sampled. The levels of Bcl2-associated X (Bax) and B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2) proteins in the tissue of the left ventricle of the rat heart were measured by the ELISA method. Data analysis was performed with one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test at a significance level of p<0.05. Findings: The amount of Bax was significantly higher in the groups of diabetic control+morphine withdrawal syndrome (P=0.002) and diabetic+morphine withdrawal syndrome+aerobic exercise (P=0.008) compared to the diabetic control group. Also, the level of Bcl-2 protein in the diabetic control group was significantly lower than that in the diabetic+aerobic exercise (P=0.004) and diabetes+ morphine withdrawal syndrome+aerobic exercise (P=0.04) groups. In addition, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was lower in the diabetic+aerobic exercise (P=0.001) and diabetes+morphine withdrawal syndrome+aerobic exercise (P=0.045) groups compared to the diabetic control group. Conclusion: Our results suggest that aerobic exercise can be considered an effective non-pharmacological way to reduce the effects of apoptosis on heart tissue cells in diabetic rats and diabetic rats with morphine withdrawal syndrome.