Effects of Exercise and Ferula Gummosa on Apelin of Cardiac and Kidney Tissues in L-NAME induced Hypertension in Rats

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Purpose: The present paper studied the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic training and Ferula gummosa on apelin 
and stress markers in heart and kidney tissues of hypertensive rats. Fifty adult, male, Wistar rats were 
randomly classified into five groups: aerobic training (AT), Ferula gummosa (FG), combination of aerobic 
training and Ferula gummosa (TFG),nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester(L-NAME) and sham (SH).
Material and Methods: Training program included treadmill running, 25-64 min per session, 
15-22 m/min, 5 sessions a week, for 8 weeks. The FG supplement group (90 mg/kg) was fed 
through gavage. Hypertension was induced by L-NAME solution, intraperitoneally (10 mg/kg), 
for 8 weeks, 6 sessions a weekone-way ANOVA and Welch test for repeated measurements with post 
hoc testing by Tukey were performed to identify differences between groups.
Results: AT, FG, and TFG protocols resulted in an increase in apelin, Nitric oxide (NO) in heart 
and kidney tissues and significantly decreased angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) as compared to 
L-NAME group. TFG protocols resulted in an increase in apelin and NO in the heart tissue as 
compared to sham group. In addition FG resulted in an increase in NO and apelin levels in heart 
and kidney tissues as compared to L-NAME group.
Discussion and Conclusion: It seems that aerobic exercise with moderate intensity and herbal supplements 
of apiaceae increase apelin and reduce blood pressure in rats with hypertension. This study provides the 
experimental evidence showing that the apelin has hypotensive and cardio protective effects in 
the kidney and heart tissues of rats

Keywords

• Aerobic training
• Oxidative stress
• Hypertension
• Apeline
• Herbal therapy

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