Shahid Beheshti University Journal of Sport and Exercise Physiology 2676-3710 19 2 2026 06 22 Effects of six weeks of resistance training and curcumin supplementation on NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and cata-lase expression in skeletal muscle of female rats with experimentally induced sarcopenia Effects of six weeks of resistance training and curcumin supplementation on NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and cata-lase expression in skeletal muscle of female rats with experimentally induced sarcopenia 82 100 106417 10.48308/joeppa.2025.241433.1394 FA Shahram Soleimani Department of Exercise Physiology and Corrective Exercises, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran 0000-0003-4963-2095 Asghar Tofighi Department of Exercise Physiology and Corrective Exercises, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran 0000-0003-3626-1782 Solmaz Babaei Bonab Department of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran 0000-0003-0185-7850 Kazem Khodaei Department of Exercise Physiology and Corrective Exercises, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran 0000-0003-1566-2851 Journal Article 2025 09 06 Background and Purpose: Sarcopenia, a major consequence of aging and sedentary lifestyle, leads to a reduced skeletal muscle function. Combining exercise interventions with anti-inflammatory compounds like curcumin may be an effective strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of sarcopenia. This study aimed to investigate the effect of six weeks of resistance training and curcumin supplementation on the protein content of NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and catalase in the soleus muscle of female Wistar rats modeled with sarcopenia. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 40 female Wistar rats with an average age of 12±1 weeks were injected with dexamethasone for 10 days as an animal model of sarcopenia and randomly were divided into five groups: healthy control (C1), sarcopenic control (C2), resistance training (RT), curcumin supplementation (CS), and combined resistance training and curcumin supplementation (RTCS). The resistance training protocol involved lad-der climbing at moderate intensity (60% MVCC), three sessions per week for 6 weeks. The supplementation groups received curcumin (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) three times per week for 6 weeks. Soleus muscle samples were col-lected 24 hours before the intervention and immediately after the last training session. Protein levels of NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and catalase were measured using Western blot. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests was used for data analysis. Results: One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in NF-κB, FOXO3a, catalase, and IGF-1 protein expres-sion among groups (p Background and Purpose: Sarcopenia, a major consequence of aging and sedentary lifestyle, leads to a reduced skeletal muscle function. Combining exercise interventions with anti-inflammatory compounds like curcumin may be an effective strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of sarcopenia. This study aimed to investigate the effect of six weeks of resistance training and curcumin supplementation on the protein content of NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and catalase in the soleus muscle of female Wistar rats modeled with sarcopenia. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 40 female Wistar rats with an average age of 12±1 weeks were injected with dexamethasone for 10 days as an animal model of sarcopenia and randomly were divided into five groups: healthy control (C1), sarcopenic control (C2), resistance training (RT), curcumin supplementation (CS), and combined resistance training and curcumin supplementation (RTCS). The resistance training protocol involved lad-der climbing at moderate intensity (60% MVCC), three sessions per week for 6 weeks. The supplementation groups received curcumin (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) three times per week for 6 weeks. Soleus muscle samples were col-lected 24 hours before the intervention and immediately after the last training session. Protein levels of NF-κB, IGF-1, FOXO3a, and catalase were measured using Western blot. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests was used for data analysis. Results: One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in NF-κB, FOXO3a, catalase, and IGF-1 protein expres-sion among groups (p https://joeppa.sbu.ac.ir/article_106417_5bec0406de1e6b1ec02df93e5e511d38.pdf