Effect of Six Weeks of Interval Exercise Training along with Selenium Nanoparticle Ingestion on Bcl-2 and LC3 Genes expression in the Tumor Tissue of Breast Tumor–Bearing Mice

Introduction: Some factors such as exercise training and pharmacological interventions can slow tumor growth. To determine the underlying mechanisms, we investigated the effect of six weeks of interval exercise training along with ingestion on Bcl-2 and LC3 genes expression in the tumor tissue of breast tumor–bearing mice. Methods: Twelve female BALB/c mice were injected with cancer cell line and assigned to four groups: control (CT), training (TT), selenium nanoparticles (ST), and training +SeTT). Interval training program was conducted for 6 weeks, 5 sessions per week. The mice in the ST and SeTT groups received for six weeks. Two days after the last session of intervention (exercise or selenium nanoparticles), the mice were anesthetized and tumor tissues were removed. and LC3 genes was determined with real-time PCR technique. A one-way analysis of variance, followed by the Tukey post hoc test, was used to compare gene expression among the groups. Results: Results indicated a significant decrease in tumor volume in the SeTT group (p< 0.001) and an increase in LC3 expression in the TT (p = 0.006) and SeTT (p = 0.04) groups. Moreover, a significant decrease in Bcl-2 expression was observed in the ST group (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Ingestion of selenium nanoparticles in combination with interval training may exert a synergistic inhibitory effect on tumor growth, with this effect being mediated in part through the changes in Bcl-2 and LC3 genes expression in the tumor tissue.