1. Introduction

Coronary heart disease is one of the most important causes of death. After coronary artery bypass grafting, exercise increases the capillary density of the myocardium, called angiogenesis, and improves cardiovascular function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of training (aerobic-resistance) on plasma levels of bFGF in coronary patients after CABG.

2. Materials and Methods

The samples of this study consisted of 30 men in the age range of 45-60 years who underwent bypass surgery, and were randomly divided into two groups of “experimental” (15 people) and “control” (15 people). The experimental group performed training (resistance-aerobic) for eight weeks (3 sessions per week) and the control group was untrained during this period. Blood samples were taken 24 hours before the start of the first training session and also 48 hours after the last training session while all subjects were fasting. ELISA laboratory technique was used to measure bFGF. Independent and correlated Student’s t-test were used to analyze the data, and the Shapiro–Wilk test was used to normalize the data at a significance level of 0.05 in SPSS V. 21.

3. Results

Eight weeks of aerobic-resistance training caused a significant increase in BFGF levels in the training group compared to the control group (P=0.002). Also, the subjects in the training group showed a significant increase in BFGF plasma levels (P=0.002) which was not significant in the control group (P=0.758) (Table 1).

4. Discussion 

Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that combined (resistance-aerobic) training can increase the serum level of BFGF and be effective in initiating angiogenesis processes and increasing capillary density. 

5. Conclusion

This exercise can be used for different people (especially for cardiovascular patients).

Compliance with ethical guidelines

This study was registered (Ethics Code: IR.IAU.NEYSHABUR.REC.1398.01) in the Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur Branch, and with Clinical Trial Code: IRCTID:IRCT20191228045919N1.

Funding

The present paper was extracted from the PhD. thesis of the first author Department of Exercise Physiology, Neyshabur Branch, Islamic Azad University,

Authors' contributions

Conceptualization: Rambod Khajei; Methodology, validation: Mehdi Zarei; Analysis, research: Ahmad Zendedel; Resources, writing – original draft: Azar Hamidi; Visualization, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition writing – review & editing: Amir Rashidlamir, Azar Hamidi.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department of Javad Al-Aemeh Hospital in Mashhad city.

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