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Background and aims: Resistance training is associated with certain cardiovascular adaptations. However, a lack of exercise may affect it. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a period of detraining followed by resistance training on the fibrosis, angiogenesis, and cardiac dimensions of male Wistar rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 20 male Wistar rats at the age of five weeks were randomly divided into control, training, control+detraining, and training+detraining groups. The control (8 weeks) and control+detraining (11 weeks) groups were placed in their respective cages with 24-hour free access to food and water and did not exercise for eight weeks. The resistance training+detraining and resistance training groups performed eight weeks of the resistance training protocol. The resistance training+detraining group did not do any type of training after the training period of 3 weeks. The results were analyzed by SPSS version 18. Results: In terms of fibrosis, there was a significant difference between the control and control+detraining groups (P=0.001), between control and training groups (P=0.001), and between control+detraining and training+detraining groups (P=0.001). In addition, a significant difference was found between the training and training+detraining groups in terms of fibrosis (P=0.001). In terms of angiogenesis, a significant difference was observed between the control and training groups (P=0.001) and between the training and training+detraining groups (P=0.007). Conclusion: Resistance training could reduce fibrosis and increase cardiac angiogenesis in rats. Based on the findings, fibrosis increased significantly in the detraining period compared to the active period, and angiogenesis was also reduced due to detraining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease whose inflammatory processes are involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction, and increases the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of interval training on some of the effective factors in atherosclerosis in heart tissue of asthmatic rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 15 rats were randomly divided into three groups of sham, asthma, and asthmatic-interval training. The model of asthma was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 1 ml ovalbumin for 2 weeks, and then asthmatic-interval training rats for 8 weeks participated in interval training. During the training protocol period, twice weekly intraperitoneal injections of ovalbumin 1 ml, and were placed into a glass container exposed to 5% ovalbumin spray. 48 hours after the last training session, the rats were anesthetized and their hearts were ejected. The levels of proteins expression of ICAM, VCAM, and galectin-3 were measured by immunohistochemistry, and western blotting, respectively. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA in SPSS at the significant level α=0.05. Results: The results of this study showed that the expression of ICAM (P=0.001), VCAM (P=0.001), and galectin-3 (P=0.001) was significantly increased in heart tissue of asthma rats. Whereas, interval training decreased the expression of ICAM (P=0.001), VCAM (P=0.001), and galectin-3 (P=0.01) proteins in the asthmatic-interval training group compared to the asthma group. Conclusions: It seems that, interval training is effective in preventing atherosclerosis in patients with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]