The effect of 8-week resistance training on IRS-1 gene expression in gastrocnemius muscle and glycemic profile in diabetes rats

The insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) has an important role in insulin signaling pathways in the target tissue of obese or insulin-resistant individuals. This study aimed to assess the effect of resistance training on fasting glucose, insulin resistance, and IRS-1 gene expression in gastrocnemius muscle in male Wister rats with type 2 diabetes (T2D).Materialsand

For this purpose, T2D induced by high-fat diet (8 weeks) and STZ in fourteen male Wistar rats (220 ± 10 g) and then assigned into exercise (resistance training, 8 weeks, 5 days/weekly, n = 7) and control (no-training, n = 7) by randomly. Fasting blood samples were obtained for measuring glucose, insulin, and calculating insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Also, the IRS-1 gene expression in gastrocnemius muscle was measured 48 hours after the last training session of both cases and controls.

Compared to control, IRS-1 gene expression in gastrocnemius muscle increased significantly by resistance training in exercise groups (p = 0.001). Fasting glucose (p < 0.001) and insulin resistance (p = 0.007) were reduced in the exercise rats compared to the control group.

Based on the results, improved fasting glucose and insulin function after resistance training in T2D diabetes could be attributed to enhancing IRS-1 expression in gastrocnemius muscle by training.