The effect of the combination of resistance training and water thistle extract on liver enzymes in healthy male rats

Dissertation for Master's degree (M.A)

Treatment: Sports Physiology

Abstract of the thesis (including summary, objectives, implementation methods and obtained results):

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of the combination of resistance exercise and water thistle extract on liver enzymes in healthy male rats, and according to the objectives and nature of the research, 90 male rats were divided into 10 groups of nine with standard conditions of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness with water and food were divided as follows. 1- Control group, 2- Dose group one (5 mg of sea buckthorn aqueous extract), 3- Dose group two (10 mg of sea buckthorn aqueous extract), 4- Dose group three (15 mg of sea buckthorn aqueous extract), 5- Resistance training group with dose, 6- Resistance training group with dose two, 7- Resistance training group with dose three, 8- Stanazol drug group (fixed dose of 2 mg per body weight), 9- Group Stanazol drug with resistance training, 10-control (exercise). The exercise program consisted of 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week. Liver homogenization sampling was done. For statistical analysis, the normality of the data was confirmed by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (k-s) test for all the factors measured in this study. Then, one-way analysis of variance test was used to compare the changes of ALP, AST, and ALT between groups, and if significant, the LSD post hoc test was used to find the location of the differences.

The results showed for the first time that the extract of St. John's wort in an animal model combined with resistance training reduces the release of liver enzymes AST and ALT in the blood.

Introduction

If we consider the last century as a time of extraordinary progress. It is not excessive. In this era, humanity has opened a new door to itself with discoveries, inventions and innovations. Certainly, the development of human consciousness has been achieved with the help of science and research. Today, the expansion of various fields of science has provided a smooth ground for understanding other unknown phenomena, and many new discoveries are due to the influence of different phenomena on each other. Among various scientific fields, the field of physical education and sports has also undergone fundamental changes and now a world of knowledge in this field of science is in front of mankind. Undoubtedly, the lack of application of various sports sciences will not provide the way for continuous progress both in the field of sports health and in the matter of developing talents. Sports physiology is one of the branches of sports medicine that deals with the scientific study of how the body responds and adapts to various sports exercises in different environments and studies the factors that affect human physical activity. Physical activity and exercise are associated with physiological adaptations. It is very important and significant to know and investigate these structures, especially in the enzyme system, which plays an important role in the body's vital reactions, because as a result of various sports activities and exercises, the enzymes undergo various changes, and knowing these changes is effective in interpreting the body's physiological mechanisms. Anyway, exercise, along with the positive role it has in creating physiological adaptations, can also be associated with cell damage. Besides these researches, there have also been studies related to the use of plants and its combination with exercise. One of these plants is thistle. The medicinal nature of this plant has led to its wide use for the treatment of various diseases. This is a member of the Zygophyllaceae plant family. In terms of nature, it grows in warm temperatures and tropical areas in southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa and Australia. The root and fruit of thistle are sweet, cool, diuretic, sexual stimulant, appetite stimulant, pain reliever, and anti-inflammatory (Ana[1] et al., 2011, Tiliki[2]). becomes Muscles, heart and blood circulation, respiratory system and kidneys are among the systems that changes in the way they work due to physical activity. In the meantime, it is important to know this effect as well as their controlling mechanisms for planning and adjusting training programs and the type of sports activity. Liver as a metabolic organ is responsible for detoxification of various substances. Harmful metabolic products formed in other organs can affect it indirectly.The liver contains proteins and enzymes with a large antioxidant capacity, and it is assumed that oxidative stress is caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and this causes various liver damages. In addition to their beneficial benefits, sports activities and competitions cause a temporary disruption of homeostasis due to their stressful nature, which may have destructive effects if the principles of exercise science are not followed. In general, the energy required for the functioning of different organs of the body is released during a series of chemical reactions, and enzymes are effective in accelerating these reactions. Among these enzymes during sports activity are aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), which (AST) (in order of concentration) in the liver, heart, skeletal muscles, kidney, brain, pancreas, lung, white blood cells and erythrocytes and (ALT) in the liver, kidney and to a lesser extent It is found in the heart and muscle and (ALP) in the kidney, liver, bone, a little in the skeletal muscles of the placenta, small intestine and leukocytes. In intense activities, this enzyme transfers metabolites (such as lipids and amino acids) from the cell membrane to produce oxidative energy (Bashir et al., Clarkson [3] et al., 2006). An increase in ALP after exercise indicates an increase in liver activity for gluconeogenesis, fat peroxidation, and sometimes an increase in bone formation, which depends on the duration and intensity of the competition.  These enzymes play a role in transferring amine from aspartate and alanine to glucotaric acid to produce oxaloacetic acid and pyruvic acid and produce energy (ATP) in the presence of oxygen in mitochondria and gluconeogenesis. These enzymes directly show the damage of the liver or muscle cells or the increase in the permeability of the cell membrane during or after intense activity and the release of these enzymes into the systemic circulation. If the AST/ALT ratio is greater than one, it indicates an overload or damage to the liver or muscle cells during competitions. St. John's wort has a diuretic effect and expels urinary tract stones and strengthens sexual powers, and it has been used as a treatment for infection and inflammation of the gums. In traditional medicine, the fruit of this plant is used to treat diabetes. Kidney stone formation is one of the widely known diseases in men. Chemically, stones contain calcium, magnesium, ammonium phosphate, urea acid and cysteine. Today, the aqueous extract of thistle is used to treat kidney and bladder stones (P. Kamboj[4] et al., 2011). Also, by increasing the production of erythropoietin (Rohani et al., 2009) and increasing the amount of red blood cells and hemoglobin (jagadisen), they improve anemia.

Various studies have shown an increase in the activity of these enzymes, especially after performing endurance activities. Although the changes in the activity of these enzymes after resistance training have been investigated in some researches, there is little research regarding the response and physiological adaptations of these enzymes after performing various types of resistance training.

Given the conflicting information and the importance of examining the serum levels of muscle enzymes in the discussion of training adaptations, and considering that the relationship between types of resistance training and these enzymes has not been well seen and it has not been clarified which resistance training causes physiological adaptations. and it becomes a more desirable enzyme, it is very important to pay attention to this matter. Also, there are few researches regarding the examination of the response and adaptations of enzymes after performing various types of resistance training. In addition, most of the studies conducted on the endocrine changes due to the stimulus of resistance exercise, and less studies have been conducted on the serum levels of muscle and liver enzymes.