The Effect of Regular Aerobic Training and Garlic Extract on the Oxidative and Inflammatory Indices of the Heart Tissue of Doxorubicin- induced Elderly Rats

Abstract Introduction: Heart disease is a major cause of mortality in elderly people, and oxidative stress and inflammation lead to changes in myocardium, resulting in apoptosis and cardiac hypertrophy. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of regular aerobic training along with garlic extract consumption on SOD, MDA, CAT, IL-10, and TNF-α levels in the heart tissue of elderly rats with chronic kidney disease. Materials & Methods: In this experimental study, 42 elderly male Wistar rats (48 to 50 weeks old) were selected and randomly assigned to (1) control, (2) Doxorubicin, (3) Doxorubicin-Saline, (4) Doxorubicin-Training, (5) Doxorubicin-Garlic, and (6) Doxorubicin-Garlic-Training (Combination) groups. Chronic kidney disease was induced with a subcutaneous injection of doxorubicin (8.5 mg/kg). The training program included swimming for eight weeks, three days a week, and thirty minutes per day. Doxorubicin-garlic and combination groups were gavaged with garlic extract (2.5 g /kg body weight). One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data (p <0.05). Results: The results showed that eight weeks of swimming training and garlic extract consumption and combination of training and garlic consumption significantly increased SOD, CAT and IL-10 levels, and significantly decreased MDA and TNF-α levels in the heart tissue of elderly rats with chronic kidney disease (p ≤0.05). Conclusion: Eight weeks of swimming training and garlic extract consumption and combination of training and garlic consumption had significant effect on increasing SOD, CAT and IL-10 levels, and decreasing MDA and TNF-α levels in the heart tissue of elderly rats with chronic kidney disease.