Effects of a fixed-intensity of endurance training and pistacia atlantica supplementation on ATP-binding cassette G4 expression

BACKGROUND Adenosine triphosphate-cassette binding protein (ABC) type G is considered as a part of reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) process in modification and metabolism of plasma and tissue cholesterol. This study aims to evaluate the effect of endurance training with or without Pistacia atlantica (Baneh) supplementation on the female rat tissues ABC type G expression and its correlation with plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration. METHODS Twenty Wistar rats (six to eight weeks old, 125-135 g weight) were arbitrarily allocated into training (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups and further divided into saline-control (n = 5), saline-training (n = 5), Baneh-control (n = 5), and Baneh-training (n = 5). The training groups were given exercise on a motor-driven treadmill at 25 m/min (0% grade) for 60 min/day, 5 days/week for eight weeks. The rats were fed orally with Baneh extract and saline for six weeks. Seventy-two hours after the last training session, the rats were sacrificed and their tissues were excised for tissues ABCG4 expression which was detected by Real-time PCR method. RESULTS The ABCG4 gene expressions were significantly higher in liver (P = 02), small intestine (P = 06), and visceral fat tissues (P = 04) of the trained rats compared to the tissues of the control rats, but were lower in Baneh treated rats (liver P = 045, small intestine P = 06 and visceral fat P = 004) with lower HDL-C concentrations (P = 008). CONCLUSIONS The Baneh administration lowered tissues ABCG4 expression and plasma HDL-C concentrations while endurance training increased the expression in female rat tissues.