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Background & Objectives: The reduction of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) affects memory, learning and cognition, food intake and energy metabolism and causes behavioral disorders. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of eight weeks interval training and curcumin consumption on TNF-α and BDNF levels in men with metabolic syndrome.
Methods: This study was performed on 40 men with metabolic syndrome who were randomly divided into four groups, including exercise +supplement, exercise, supplement and control groups (n=10). The experimental groups did the exercise protocol and consumed curcumin supplement for eight weeks. The blood samples were collected 24 hours before the start of exercise and 48 hours after the last training session. One-way ANOVA and paired t-test were used to analyze the data. The significance level was considered to be p≤0.05.   
Results: In exercise +supplement and exercise groups, significant changes were observed in BDNF (p=0.000, p=0.004) and TNF-α (p=0.001, p=0.008) levels compared to pre-test. Also, when analyzing changes between groups, TNF-α (p=0.004) and BDNF (p=0.000) changes were statistically significant in exercise +supplement group compared to other groups.
Conclusion: Eight weeks moderate-intensity interval training combined with curcumin consumption significantly reduced inflammatory factors and increased BDNF expression.

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Background & objectives: The increase of Bnip3 and Parkin plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial function and inhibiting ROS. A correlation was observed between the mitochondrial respiratory capacity and the subjects' mRNA levels of Bnip3 and Parkin proteins as a result of exercise, which shows the significant role of mitochondrial dynamics on the improvement of respiratory capacity. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training and curcumin supplementation on Bnip3 and parkin mitochondrial gene expression levels in cardiomyocytes of male heart attack model rats.
Methods: In this experimental study, 32 male Wistar rats were subjected to myocardial infarction using  intraperitoneal injection of isoproterenol (100 mg/kg for two consecutive days) and, after confirmation of infarction (troponin measurement), randomly divided into four groups; Control, high-intensity interval training, curcumin (pure curcumin 15mg and dimethyl sulfoxide with a concentration of 10% per kg of body weight five days a week by gavage) and combination group (supplement+exercise).The exercise and combination groups were subjected to high-intensity interval training (10 bouts of four-minute activity with an intensity of 85-90% VO2max) for eight weeks. Bnip3 and Parkin gene expression levels were obtained using the Real-time PCR method. The data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and one-way analysis of variance.
Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the mean of the groups in Bnip3 and parkin gene expression levels. The results of Tukey's test showed that the expression level of Bnip3 and Parkin genes was higher in the intense interval training and exercise-supplement groups than in the control and supplement groups. There was no significant difference between the supplement and control groups; in fact the use of curcumin without training did not affect Bnip3 and PARKIN gene expression levels compared to the control group.
Conclusion: This study shows that intermittent exercise and curcumin consumption have a protective effect on mitochondrial quality during infarction.
 

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Background & objectives: Maintaining the capacity of mitochondrial biogenesis during aging is considered a key factor to prevent the development of age-related diseases. this study aimed  to investigate the effect of 8-weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and hawthorn extract on the peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor-γ gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) proteins levels in the soleus muscle of aged rats.
Methods: Thirty-six aged rats were randomly and equally assigned into control (CON), HIIT, extract or combined (COM, HIIT+ extract) groups. The HIIT protocol consisted of 6 to 9 sets×5-min of running on a treadmill, which was performed 4 minutes at 16 m/min and one minuteat a speed velocity of 25 m/min, 5 times a week for 8 weeks. Over the intervention period, rats in the extract and COM groups received 100 mg/kg per day hawthorn. After the interventions, TFAM and PGC-1α protein expression levels were detected in the soleus muscle using the western blotting method.
Results: There was a significant increase in PGC-1α for all interventions when compared to the CON, although this increase in the COM was significantly higher than the other groups. After 8 weeks , there was a significant increase in TFAM level in  extract group compared to CON,also, the training groups had more effects on this marker in comparison to the former intervention (p>0.05).   
Conclusion: It seems that, 8-weeks of the HIIT+ intake hawthorn is a more efficient approach in improving mitochondrial oxidative capacity compared to HIIT and extract alone.