Concomitant Administration of L-carnitine and Performing High-Intensity Interval Training Effects on the Genes Involved in Mitochondrial Fusion and Apoptosis in Rat Liver

Abstract

Mitochondria as dynamic organelles go through coordinated processes, including fusion and apoptosis. This study was designed to assess the effects of L-carnitine supplement and high-intensity training on the mitochondria fusion and apoptosis in liver tissue. Thirty-two Wistar rats were assigned into four groups, and eight rats were entered into each group, including the untreated control group (CTL), L-Carnitine group (LCAR; 200 mg/kg/day, i.p), High-intensity interval training group (HIIT), HIIT+L-Carnitine group (LCAR-HIIT; received 200 mg/kg/day L-Carnitine and performed HIIT). Real-Time PCR was used to quantify the expression of liver genes. LCAR-HIIT significantly decreased Parkin (p<0.0001), MFN-1 (p=0.014), Caspase-3 (p=0.039), Bax (p<0.0001) expression in the liver compared with the CTL. However, HIIT with LCAR significantly increased the expression of Bcl-2 compared with the CTL (p=0.049), while LCAR significantly reduced Bax expression compared to the CTL (p=0.006). LCAR-HIIT induced positive physiological changes in the liver through negative regulation of Bax and caspase-3. In addition, LCAR-HIIT may provide a new approach for ameliorating mitochondria fusion in the liver tissue.