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Background & objectives: Temporal lobe epilepsy is associated with neuronal apoptosis. Curcumin has antioxidant and anticonvulsant activities, therefore this study was conducted to assess involvement of Bax and Bcl2 in protective effect of curcumin in epileptic rats.

Methods: 28 rats were divided into sham, curcumin-pretreated sham, epileptic (kainate), and curcumin-pretreated epileptic groups. Experimental model of epilepsy was induced by intrahippocampal administration of kainic acid. Rats received curcumin at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Finally, Nissl staining and Bax and Bcl2 immunohistochemistry were conducted on hippocampal sections and data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and unpaired t-test. The p-value less than 0.05was considered statistically significant.

Results: Induction of epilepsy was followed by a significant seizure and curcumin pretreatment significantly reduced seizure intensity (p<0.01). In addition, there were no significant differences between the groups in Nissl staining of CA3 area neurons. In addition, Bax positive neurons were observed in CA3 area in kainate group and significantly decreased in curcumin pretreated rats (p<0.05). Meanwhile, Bcl2 positive neurons were also moderately observed in kainate group and curcumin pretreatment significantly increased it (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Curcumin pretreatment exhibits anticonvulsant activity in epileptic rats. It also decreases the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and significantly enhances the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 and hence could reduce neuronal apoptosis.

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Background & objectives: Physical training and some supplements through different mechanisms could be effective in reducing apoptosis; the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of endurance training and supplementation of Persia Rosa extract on mitochondrial apoptosis of myocardium.
Methods: In this experimental study, 52 male rats were randomly assigned into five homogeneous groups, three-month control, six months control, Persia Rosa supplement, endurance training and endurance training+Persia Rosa. Training groups participated in endurance training protocol for 12 weeks. The Persia Rosa and endurance training+Persia Rosa groups received 1 gram Persia Rosa extract per kg body weight. After the implementation of the training protocol and consumption of the extract, the surgical and cardiac tissue extraction procedures were performed. The data were analyzed by ANOVA test and Bonferroni post hoc tests at the significant level of less than 5% using SPSS-22 software.
Results: The results showed that Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and Caspase-3 gene expression were significantly decreased in endurance training and endurance training+Persia Rosa groups to the control group (p˂0.05). Bax/Bcl-2 showed a significant decrease in the Persia Rosa supplement group (p˂0.05), but Caspase-3 was not significant in the Persia Rosa supplement group.
Conclusion: It is expected that the effect of endurance training with consumption of Persia Rosa extract on Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and Caspase-3 will provide a good platform for caspase mechanisms and apoptosis processes in the myocardium of rats.