Effect of an 8-week endurance rehabilitation exercise on apoptosis in cardiac patients

Aims: Exercise training is one of the nonpharmacological treatments for heart diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 8-week endurance rehabilitation training on apoptosis among cardiac patients. Subjects and Methods: Sixteen postcoronary artery bypass grafting patients, having examined by specialists, were randomly assigned to control (n = 8) and experimental groups (n = 8). The experimental group completed a training protocol including running on a treadmill at 55%–70% of their maximum heart rate for 8 weeks. Blood sampling was performed after 12–14 h of fasting and before and after the 8-weeks training to measure biochemical variables. The measurement of Bax and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) was conducted using the ELISA kit. The data analysis was carried out using the independent sample t-test at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The results showed a significant difference between the participants' mean Bax (P = 0.011) and Bcl-2 (P = 0.015) values after the intervention for both the groups. Likewise, the difference between the ratios of Bcl-2/Bax values after the intervention was significant for both the groups (P = 0.023). Conclusions: According to the findings of the study, it seems that the endurance rehabilitation training exercises could have a protective effect against apoptosis.