The Effect of High Intensity Intermittent Training (HIIT) on GLP-1R Expression in Pancreas Tissue and Serum Insulin of Male Wistar Rats with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Insulin secretion and insulin resistance are associated with incidence and severity of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to assess the effect of high intensity intermittent training (HIIT) on GLP-1R expression in pancreas tissue and serum insulin of T2DM rats.

In this quasi-experimental study, T2DM induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin-Nicotinamide in 16 male wistar rats aged 10 weeks (220 – 20 g). The rats were divided into control (no-training, n= 8) and HIIT (5 times/ week/12-week, n= 8) groups. GLP-1R expression in pancreas tissue, fasting glucose and serum insulin were measured 48 h after lasted exercise of exercise and control groups. Independent and paired T-test was used to compare variables between 2 groups.

HIIT resulted in significant increase in GLP-1R expression compared to control subjects (P-value: 0.023). Fasting glucose decreased (P-value< 0.0001) and serum insulin increased  (P-value< 0.0001) in response to HIIT when compared to control subjects.

HIIT can improve insulin secretion in male rats with T2DM and this improvement can be attributed to increased GLP-1R expression in pancreas tissue in response to training protocol.