Response of Cardiac Tissue β-catenin and GSK-3β to Aerobic Training and Hyaluronic Acid in Knee OA Model Rats

Background and objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are highly prevalent. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of regular aerobic training and hyaluronic acid on cardiac tissue Wnt signaling pathway in experimental model of knee OA. Methods: 42 male rats were divided into 6 groups (7 in each group): 1) control, 2) patient, 3) salin, 4) HA, 5) exercise, and 6) exercise + HA. In the training groups, the OA model was first induced, followed by 5 days of running on the treadmill for 5 weeks. Hyaluronic acid was injected intra-articularly. After 12 to 14 hours of fasting and 72 hours after the last training session, cardiac tissue sampling was performed for βcatenin and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3β) analysis. The expression of the β-catenin and GSK-3β genes in the cardiac tissue was analyzed by RT-PCR. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA if a significant difference was observed by Tukey's post hoc test (P <0.05). Results: Induction of OA in rats led to a significant increase in β-catenin gene and a significant decrease in cardiac tissue GSK3 gene compared to healthy control group. The results also showed that regular aerobic training, hyaluronic acid injection, and a combination of both treatments reduced the cateninβ gene and increased the cardiac tissue GSK3 gene compared to the rats of OA group. Conclusion: Regular aerobic training in combination with hyaluronic acid may exert its protective effect by reducing the expression of β-catenin and increasing the expression of cardiac tissue GSK-3β gene; this may be caused by the heart disease in the model, empirically preventing osteoarthritis.