The Effect of Six-Week High-Intensity Interval Training on Muscle Expression of FTO and PPAR-γ in Obese Diabetic Rats

Recent research suggests that obese people are up to 80 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with a normal BMI. Besides, obesity, inadequate physical activity, and unhealthy diets are the main causes of this metabolic disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of six weeks of high-intensity interval training on muscle expression of Fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) and Peroxisome proliferator activator receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) in obese diabetic rats.

This experimental study was carried out on 12 male Wistar rats (220±20 g bodyweight and 10 weeks old). Animals received a high-fat diet within six weeks, and then in order to induce type 2 diabetes, an intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of 30 mg/kg freshly prepared streptozotocin (STZ) (Sigma, USA) solved in citrate buffer (pH 4.5) was performed. Diabetic rats were divided into two (High-Intensity Interval Training and control) groups randomly. HIIT program included five sessions of 30 minutes per week. 48 hours after the last training session, the outcomes were measured. The muscle expression of FTO and PPAR-γ was measured using the real-time PCR method. Independent samples t-test and Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were applied to compare the means.

The expression of FTO (P<0.01), fasting blood sugar (P<0.001), weight (P<0.001) and HOMA-IR (P<0.004) significantly decreased after six weeks of high-intensity interval training, whilst PPAR-γ expression (P<0.007) significantly increased.

Regarding the results of this study, it can be stated that a six-week HIIT program can improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. It can also increase the expression of diabetes- and obesity-associated genes (e.g., PPAR-γ and FTO), and thereby plays a prominent role in the control and treatment of type 2 diabetes in obese patients.