The Comparison between the Effect of Moderate & prolonged Swimming Training on Liver Tissue LXRα Gene Expression & Serum Cholesterol and Triglyceride levels in Male Wistar Rats

Background & Objectives: Liver X-Alpha Receiver is a family of large hormone receptors that play a role in cholesterol homeostasis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ten weeks of moderate and long term endurance exercise on the expression of the LXRα gene and the evaluation of serum levels of cholesterol and triglyceride in male rats. Materials & Methods: 18 male Wistar rats were randomly divided in to three groups of six, control, moderate and long swimming, in the range of 275±25g. The training groups swam in 32 degrees water for ten weeks and 5 days a week. The moderate group swam for one hour and a long group each session for three hours. After the completion of the exercise, blood sampling from the underlying vena-cava and tissue from the rat liver was performed. Real-time PCR was used to measure the of LXRα gene expression by Ampliqon mixer and DNA synthesis kits. Differences were determined by ANOVA One-Way method and the groups were compared by Tukey follow-up test. Pearson correlation was used to determine the correlation between levels of expression of LXRα gene with cholesterol and triglyceride. SPSS software version20 was used at the significance level of p≤0.05. Results: The moderate exercise group showed a significant increase in LXRα gene and a significant reduction in cholesterol and triglyceride compared to both control and prolonged groups (p=0.001). Also, LXRα gene expression in this group had a negative and significant correlation with cholesterol (rs=-0.912) and triglyceride (rs=-0.862). Conclusion: It seems that the positive mechanism induced by moderate swelling by increasing the expression of the LXRα gene results in the release of cell lipid makers.