Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Journal of Eexercise & Organ Cross Talk

Effect of aerobic exercise combined with anti-PD-L1 antibody injection on body weight and heart weight of breast cancer-bearing mice: Management in cancer cachexia

Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

Amir Hossein Ahmadi Hekmatikar 1
Hamid Agha-Alinejad 1
Aliakbar Yousefi-Ahmadipour 2, 3, 4, 5
Mahdieh Molanouri Shamsi 1, 6

1 Department of Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14117-13116, Iran.

2 Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.

3 Molecular Medicine Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.

4 Depatment of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.

5 Cancer and Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Faculty of Paramedicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.

6 Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22122/jeoct.2025.510661.1145
Abstract
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, with breast cancer posing a high risk for women. Immunotherapy has shown efficacy, and exercise is recognized for its role in cancer management. Combining both may enhance therapeutic outcomes. This study examined 30 female BALB/c mice (average weight: 17.76g), divided into five groups (n=6 each). After treadmill acclimation, they underwent two 6-week training protocols and a 4-week protocol post-cancer induction. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA. The findings revealed significant differences in body weight among the EIEA and EIA groups compared to the control group. Similarly, in the heart weight analysis, both EIEA and EIA groups showed significant differences compared to the control (p<0.05). Notably, the combination of exercise and anti-PD-L1 antibody treatment effectively prevented weight loss in both body mass and heart weight. This protective effect may be attributed to the mitigation of cachexia, a common complication in cancer that leads to severe weight loss and muscle wasting. These results suggest that integrating physical activity with immunotherapy could serve as a potential strategy to counteract cancer-induced weight deterioration.

What is already known on this subject?

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, with breast cancer posing a high risk for women.  

 

What this study adds?

The observed protective impact against cachexia-induced weight reduction suggests that these interventions may have therapeutic potential in preserving physiological function during disease progression.

Keywords

Physical activity
Anti-PD-L1 antibody
Body weight
Heart weight
Breast cancer

Subjects

Acknowledgements

The support of the Shahid Sattari (NICICO) Collection for this study is gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

None.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval Biomedical Research of Tarbiat Modares University of Tehran (IR.MODARES.AEC.1403.023).

Informed consent Animal study

Author contributions

Conceptualization: AH.AH.; Methodology: H.AA.; Software: H.AA.; Validation: A.YA.; Formal analysis: A.YA.; Investigation: M.MS.; Resources: M.MS.; Data curation: M.MS.; Writing - original draft: AH.AH.; Writing – review & editing: AH.AH.; Visualization: M.MS.; Supervision: H.AA. Project administration: M.MS.; Funding acquisition: H.AA.

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Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Volume 4, Issue 4
Autumn 2024
Pages 298-303

  • Receive Date 04 September 2024
  • Revise Date 20 December 2024
  • Accept Date 24 December 2024

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