Ismail Ahmad, Budu Budu, Mochammad Hatta, Andi Ihsan, Sitti Rahmatiah, Nasrullah Nasrullah, Sumira Laudo, Nureni Djalil, Muhammad Basri, Ilhamsyah Muin
Indonesian Hajj Health Officers (PKHI) are health officers instructed by the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia to provide health services, development, and protection to Hajj pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage implementation, hence, a healthy physical condition in PKHI becomes one of the primary keys of success in providing health services. This study aimed at knowing the role of PGC-1α gene expression in increasing the physical fitness levels (VO2max) of the PKHI candidates. The data were collected from 30 subjects of PKHI consisting of 17 males and 13 females. The assessment of PGC-1α gene expression using mRNA and RT-PCR was done in the biomedical-biomolecular laboratory of Hasanuddin University Medical Research Center (HUM-RC), Makassar, and the measurement of VO2max of three 3 times using the Multistage Fitness Test (MFT) technique with Bleep Test method, namely before and after 1600 meter running workout with a duration of 20-30 minutes per session, 3 times a week with a frequency of 16 times. The result showed that the average scores of PGC-1α gene expression after physical exercise in males and females were (7.45±2.17 ΔΔCT) and (5.46±2.87 ΔΔCT) respectively. They were higher than the average scores before physical exercises in males and females, namely (3.46±0.72 ΔΔCT) and (3.38±0.57 ΔΔCT) respectively with the statistical significance level or p-value of less than 0.001. Further, the average scores of VO2max in males and females after physical exercises were 38.65±1.69 ml/kg/min and 28.98±1.30 ml/kg/min respectively, and they were better than average scores before physical exercises, namely 33.78±1.29 ml/kg/min and 24.82±0.37 ml/kg/min respectively (p-value <0.001). It concludes that mRNA expression of PGC-1α gene increases the level of physical fitness (VO2max) in PKHI candidates. © 2020 Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. All rights reserved.
Postgraduate School, Doctoral Programme of Medical Sciences, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia; Department of Biomolecular, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia; Department of Sports Health, Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri, Makassar, Indonesia; Department of Nursing, Politeknik Kesehatan (Health Polytechnic), Kemenkes (Minister of Health), Makassar, Indonesia; Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitas Islam Alauddin, Makassar, Indonesia
