The Effect of 6 Weeks of Aerobic Training on Plasma Levels of Lipocalin-2, Insulin and Insulin Resistance in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Male Rats

Lipocalin -2 is an adipokine which is closely related to obesity, type-2 diabetes and insulin resistance. The present study investigated the effect of aerobic training on plasma levels of Lipocalin-2, insulin and insulin resistance in diabetic male rats. 30 male Wistar rats (12 weeks old, weight: 180-240 gr) were randomly divided into 3 groups of diabetic training, diabetic control and healthy control. The rats of diabetic training group performed endurance training for 6 weeks, 5 days per week, 40 min. per session, speed of 20 m/min. with a slope of 5 degrees. All rats were anesthetized 48 hours after the last training session and after 12 hours of fasting and their blood samples were collected. Plasma levels of Lipocalin-2 and insulin were measured by ELISA method. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test. The results of one-way ANOVA showed that 6 weeks of aerobic training significantly increased Lipocalin-2 plasma levels (P=0.003) and significantly decreased insulin resistance index (P=0.007) in diabetic training group while there were no significant changes in insulin levels in diabetic training group compared to the diabetic control group (P=0.587). This study showed that 6 weeks of aerobic training may play a role in improving metabolic abnormalities in diabetes through an increase in Lipocalin-2 level and a decrease in insulin resistance.