The Effects of High Intensity Interval Training on Gene Expression of AKT1 and mTORc1 in the Left Ventricle of Type 2 Diabetic Rats: An Experimental Study

High intensity interval trainings (HIIT) are effective in the physiological cardiac hypertrophy and in reducing the complications of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 12 weeks high intensity interval training on the expression of AKT1(Protein Kinase B) and mTORc1)mammalian target of rapamycin( genes in the left ventricle of type 2 diabetic rats. In this experimental study, 21 male Wistar rats weighting 220±20 gr were randomly divided into three groups including diabetic-HIIT, diabetic control, and healthy control group. The diabetic HIIT group have been participated in 5 sessions (30 minutes per week) in the form of running on a treadmill with repetitions of 1 minute and 2 minutes active rest between each repetition for 12 weeks. All rats were sacrificed 48 hours after the last training session. To compare relative expression of AKT1 and mTORc1 genes, independent t-test was used at a significant level of p≤0.05. Comparing the groups showed a significant decrease in the expression of Akt1 (p=0.007( and mTORc1(p=0.022) genes in the diabetic control group compared to the healthy group. The training also significantly increased the expression of Akt1 (p=0.003) (up to 72%) and mTORc1 genes (p=0.001) compared to the diabetic control group. It seems that HIIT increases the gene expression of Akt1 and mTORc1 which can improve cardiac function and may probably prevent clinical symptom of heart disease resulted from diabetes.