Effect of Thymol on the Level of Bcl-2 Family Transcript in the Hypertrophied Heart of Rats

Background and Aims: Longterm surge of heart loads causes cell hypertrophy. Left ventricular hypertrophy is an adaptive response of the heart to pathological stimuli such as hypertension. Bcell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) family members play an essential role in this process regulation. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of thymol on the transcription level of Bcl2 family factors in the rat model of left ventricular hypertrophy. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: 1 Control 2Untreated hypertrophy (H), 3 and 4 groups which received 25 and 50 mg/kg/day of thymol (H + Tym25 and H + Tym50 groups, respectively). Hypertrophy was induced by abdominal aortic banding, and the real time polymerase chain reaction technique was used for gene expression. Results: Data showed that in the H group, the mRNA level of the BAD was increased significantly (p ˂ 0.001). However, the transcription level of BAX was increased in the H and H+Tym25 compared with the control group. In the H + Tym50 group, BAX mRNA level decreased significantly compared to the H group (p ˂ 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that the expression rates of the antiapoptotic factor, Bcl2, was significantly increased in the H group (p 0.01) and thymoltreated hypertrophy groups (p 0.001). Interestingly, the upregulation of Bcl2 mRNA was statistically significant in the H+Tym50 group compared with H and H + Tym25 groups (p 0.01). The results showed that thymol could protect heart hypertrophied by increasing the expression of antiapoptotic factors.