Effect of 8-week circuit training on lymphocyte AGRP gene expression in well-trained wrestlers

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Abstract

Background and Objective: Agouti-related protein (AGRP) is an orexigenic peptide and found to be secreted from hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) and has important role in appetite and food intake. It has been shown that AGRP has an important role in weight control and plasma levels of this peptide increases in fatness and starvation. The aim of this study was to study the effect of 8-weeks circuit training on lymphocyte AGRP gene expression in well-trained wrestlers. Materials and Methods: Ten well-trained wrestlers volunteered to this research and conducted 8-weeks wrestling-based circuit training according to researchers recommended protocol. Blood samples were taken 48 hours before the first and after the last sessions of training. After lymphocyte separation, lymphocyte AGRP gene expression was evaluated with semi quantitative RT-PCR method. Results: Circuit training significantly increased AGRP mRNA lymphocyte expression (P, 0.001). Conclusion: It seems that increase in lymphocyte AGRP expression is accordant with increase in its expression in hypothalamus in response to negative energy balance induced by training to increase appetite and compensation of body energy sources.

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