Resistance exercise affects catheter-related thrombosis in rats through miR-92a-3p, oxidative stress and the MAPK/NF-κB pathway

BACKGROUND: MiR-92a-3p and oxidative stress are associated with catheter-related thrombosis (CRT). As a kind of physical intervention, resistance exercise can effectively promote blood circulation. In this study, we investigated the roles of miR-92a-3p, oxidative stress and the P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase/nuclear factor-κB (MAPK/NF-κB) pathway in CRT during resistance exercise. METHODS: The rat CRT model was used for resistance exercise intervention. Moreover, pathological changes from the right jugular vein to the right auricle were observed under an electron microscope. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, malondialdehyde (MDA) activity and heme oxygenase (HO-1) level in rat serum were detected via ELISA. The expression levels of miR-92A-3p and HO-1 in the vascular tissues of the rats were determined via real-time quantitative PCR. Additionally, the expression levels of HO-1, NF-κB P65, p38MAPK and IκBa in the venous tissues of the rats were analysed by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: The pathological results showed that the thrombosis incidence rate in the CRT + RE group was lower than that in the CRT group. In the CRT group, the expression levels of ROS and MDA, which are markers related to oxidative stress in serum, significantly increased whilst the expression of HO-1 decreased. In the venous tissue, the expression of miR-92a-3p increased, the level of HO-1 decreased, the levels of p38MAPK and NF-κB p65 significantly increased but that of P-IκBa and IκBa significantly decreased. In the CRT + RE group, after administering the resistance exercise intervention, ROS production and MDA activity in serum significantly decreased, the expression level of HO-1 increased and the expression level of miR-92a-3p in the venous tissues significantly decreased and was negatively correlated with that of HO-1. The levels of p38MAPK and NF-κB p65 significantly decreased but that of P- IκBa and IκBa significantly increased. CONCLUSION: Resistance exercise intervention downregulated miR-92a-3p expression, repaired oxidative stress injury and prevented CRT formation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-021-02233-w.