The effect of Origanum vulgare extract supplementation with and without exercise training on p53 and cytochrome c gene expression in myocardium of male rats

Background and Objective: Apoptosis plays a key role in the pathogenesis of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, especially cardiac failure. Therefore, the purpose of this study was investigating the effect of Origanum vulgare extract supplementation with and without exercise training on p53 and cytochrome c gene expression in myocardium of male rats.   Materials and Methods: Nineteen three-month old male rats were randomly divided into three groups: control (Con), Origanum vulgare supplementation (OVS) and Origanum vulgare supplementation+exercise training (OVS+EX). Within three months of research, OVS and OVS+EX groups received 1 g/kg body weight of Origanum vulgare extract. Rats in OVS+EX group participated in the exercise training program for 12 weeks. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the heart muscle of rats were extracted and mRNA of p53 and cytochrome c was evaluated by Real Time-PCR. One-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests were applied for statistical analysis of the data (p<0.05).   Results: p53 gene expression in OVS and OVS+EX groups was non-significantly lower than the Con group (21% and 28%, respectively, p˃0.05). However, cytochrome c gene expression in OVS+EX group was significantly lower than the Con group (62%, p<0.01).   Conclusion: Overall, 12 weeks of Origanum vulgare extract supplementation did not affect the p53 and cytochrome c gene expression in myocardium of male rats. However, the addition of exercise training to Origanum vulgare extract supplementation significantly reduces the expression of cytochrome c.