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

The effects of eight weeks of interval training on plasma levels of FoxN1 and blood pressure indices in middle-aged men with hypertension

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mahmoud Ghanavati
Mehdi Bostani

Department of Physical Education, Ahv.C., Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22122/jeoct.2025.551056.1175
Abstract
High blood pressure or hypertension has become the most common cardiovascular and renal risk factor among people around the world and is mainly associated with an inactive lifestyle and unhealthy diet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of moderate-intensity interval training on plasma levels of FoxN1 and blood pressure indices in middle-aged men with hypertension. In the present quasi-experimental study, 32 middle-aged men with an age range of 50-60 years and with high blood pressure were purposefully selected and then randomly assigned to two control (n = 15) and experimental (n = 17) groups. The experimental group performed interval training for eight weeks with a frequency of three sessions per week and an intensity of 50-75% of heart rate reserve based on the principle of gradual overload, while the control group did not participate in any training program. Plasma levels of FoxN1 were measured by the ELISA protein assay. Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure were also measured in the subjects of the two groups before and after the training period. to evaluation the normality of the data, the Shapiro-Wilk test was used, and the homogeneity of variances was assessed with the Levene test. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test was also used to compare the variables in the two groups. The data were analyzed at a significance level of 0.05 and using SPSS-23 software. The results showed that eight weeks of moderate-intensity interval training led to a significant increase in FoxN1 (P < 0.05). Also, a significant decrease was observed in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial blood pressure after eight weeks of interval training (P < 0.05). According to the results of the present study, it is recommended that people with high blood pressure perform moderate-intensity interval training to control blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and improve immune function.

What is already known on this subject?

Hypertension has also been identified as an immune-related disease, and the thymus gland has been shown to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of hypertension.

 

What this study adds?

Eight weeks of interval training reduced blood pressure indices such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure in men with hypertension and led to a significant increase in Foxn1 plasma levels.

Keywords

Interval training
Hypertension
FoxN1
Cardiovascular

Subjects

Acknowledgements

This article is derived from the master's thesis of the Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz Branch, which hereby acknowledges and thanks the research of the Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz Branch and the research subjects.

Funding

None.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in the present research.

Ethical approval Given that the present study was conducted on human samples with exercise intervention over a relatively long period of time, in full compliance with the ethical principles of research, approval was received from the ethics committee with the ID number IR.IAU.AHVAZ.REC.1404.192 from the Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz Branch.

Informed consent Performed. 

Author contributions 

Conceptualization: M.Gh., M.B., Methodology: M.Gh., M.B., Software: M.Gh., M.B., Validation: M.Gh., M.B., Formal analysis: M.Gh., M.B., Investigation: M.Gh., M.B., Resources: M.Gh., M.B., Data curation: M.Gh., M.B., Writing - original draft: M.Gh., M.B., Writing–review & editing: M.Gh., M.B., Visualization: M.Gh., M. B, Supervision: M.B.; Project administration: M.Gh., M.B., Funding acquisition: M.B.   

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Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Volume 5, Issue 3
Summer 2025
Pages 130-136

  • Receive Date 04 July 2025
  • Revise Date 03 September 2025
  • Accept Date 14 September 2025

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