Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk

Abstract Aim of this study was to determine the relations among the tight junction (TJs) genes, muscle strength and cross-sectional area (CSA) influenced by resistance training with or without specific supplement (a combination of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium probiotics, leucine amino acid and Vitamin-D). For this purpose, 25 male wistar rats in two age groups (3 months in young control and 16-24 months in four other groups) randomly divided in 5 equal groups (old and young control, resistance training, supplement and resistance training plus supplement). After 8 weeks of resistance training trice a week and oral gavage of supplement 5 times per week there were no any relation between grip strength and muscle CSA with zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin (Occ) genes. But result of one-way ANOVA revealed that there were significantly differences among study groups in TJs genes, muscle strength and CSA (P≤0.05). Our finding showed that resistance training along with supplement can increase the level of ZO-1 (P=0.011), and Occ genes (P=0.023) expression. Indeed, resistance training plus supplement had synergistic effect on muscle CSA and grip strength (P=0.001) that can be comparable with young group. In addition, supplement alone appears that doesn’t have beneficial impact on physical function but surprisingly our finding shows strong inverse correlation between Occ and grip strength (p=0.015, r= -1.0) in supplement group which implies that although supplement alone can’t improve physical function but can maintain intestinal barrier function.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of prolonged whey protein supplementation and resistance training on the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) gene, the weight of the Gastrocnemius muscle and One-repetition maximum in young male Wistar rats. In this study, twenty-one young male Wistar rats, aged eight weeks and weighing between 200 to 250 grams, were randomly assigned to four groups: training (T), supplementary training (ST), Sham (Sh), and control (C). The resistance training program was conducted for six weeks, five days a week, with the training intensity increasing from 50 to 100% of the rats' body weight. The rats receiving the whey supplement via the gavage method based on their body weight, using whey production by ON company. Forty-eight hours after the final training session, the quadriceps muscles of the rats were extracted and the expression level of the IGF-1 gene was evaluated using the Real-Time PCR method. Statistical analysis was conducted using one-way variance test and Scheffe's test. The results showed that the training -supplement group exhibited a significant increase in IGF-1 expression compared to the Sham group (P˂0.05). Moreover, the weight of the Gastrocnemius muscle of rats and also One-repetition maximum in the training-supplement group significantly increased compared to the training, sham, and control groups (P˂0.05). The findings suggest that the concomitant use of resistance training and whey protein supplementation has a synergistic effect on IGF-1 gene expression in skeletal muscle, which may contribute to enhanced muscle hypertrophy and One-repetition maximum.