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Background & objectives: Physical activity is one of the several factors which stimulate the secretion of growth and nerve growth factors in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of Pilates training and ginger consumption on serum level of BDNF and TNF-α in women with MS.
Methods: Forty women with MS were randomly selected from 85 women referred to the Welfare Office of Urmia city, in Iran, with the age range of 30-35 in the form of a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental study design. Participants were divided into four groups including: exercise+ supplement, exercise+ placebo, ginger supplement and control group with 10 individuals in each group. The intervention groups performed Pilates exercises for 12 weeks, 3 sessions of 60 minutes every week, and the supplement groups took three ginger capsules of one gram daily. In order to analyze the data, analysis of covariance was done using SPSS-22 software.
Results: The results showed that ginger consumption combined with physical exercises increases BDNF in the intervention groups compared to the control groups, but this increase is more significant in the exercise+supplement group (p<0.05) than other groups. Also, the results showed that TNF-α level has a significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The results showed that ginger consumption as a non-invasive method can have a positive effect on increasing BDNF level and decreasing TNF-α level in women with MS.