The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on the AMPK/SIRT1 Pathway in Cardiac Tissue of Obese Male Wistar Rats

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Master of Science, Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background& purpose:Obesity is associated with structural and functional impairments in the heart and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The AMPK/SIRT1 signaling pathway plays a key role in regulating cellular energy homeostasis and oxidative stress responses in cardiac tissue. This study aimed to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on the expression of AMPK and SIRT1 genes in the cardiac tissue of obese male Wistar rats.Methods: In this experimental study, 18 male Wistar rats (mean weight: 187.5 ± 9.37 g) were randomly divided into three groups: healthy control, obese control, and obese with exercise. Obesity was induced by a high-fat diet for 8 weeks. The exercise group underwent aerobic treadmill training for 8 weeks (5 sessions per week). At the end of the intervention, gene expression levels of AMPK and SIRT1 in cardiac tissue were assessed using real-time PCR. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test (p<0.05).Results: Obesity induction led to a significant reduction in the gene expression of AMPK and SIRT1 in cardiac tissue compared to the healthy control group (p = 0.001). Aerobic exercise significantly increased the expression levels of both AMPK and SIRT1 in the obese exercise group compared to the obese control (p = 0.001).Conclusion: Eight weeks of aerobic exercise can partially reverse obesity-induced metabolic dysfunctions in cardiac tissue by activating the AMPK/SIRT1 signaling pathway. These findings underscore the value of non-pharmacological interventions such as aerobic training in mitigating cardiometabolic complications associated with obesity.

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Journal of Applied Health Studies in Sport Physiology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 December 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 26 July 2025
  • Revise Date: 04 December 2025
  • Accept Date: 24 November 2025

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