The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on PGC-1α and FNDC5 Gene Expression in Diabetic Male Rats

Change in adipose tissue phenotype caused by exercise training is a new theory manifested as the result of muscle FNDC5 gene expression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on PGC-1α and FNDC5 gene expression of diabetic male rats. In this study, 18 diabetic male rats (12 weeks old, weight 220-240 gr) were divided into three groups: immediately after aerobic exercise (AE0) (n=6), 2 hours after aerobic exercise (AE2) (n=6) and control (C) (n=5). Both aerobic exercise (AE) groups exercised on the treadmill with 60-65% VO2max for 40 minutes. Real time PCR method was used to examine the mRNA relative expression of FNDC5 and PGC-1α genes of muscle tissue. ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test were used to analyze data at significance level of 0.05. Data analysis showed a significant difference in PGC-1α gene expression among the groups (P≤0.01.) Tukey test showed that PGC-1α gene expression significantly increased in the immediately after aerobic exercise (AE0) group compared to the control group (P≤0.01). However, there were no significant differences in FNDC5 gene expression among the groups (P>0.01). Therefore, the results of this study showed that despite PGC-1α expression, aerobic exercise has no effects on the FNDC5 gene expression in diabetic male rats.