The Effect of 8 Weeks of Endurance Exercise, Consumption of Vanadium and Stevia on Structural Changes in the Hamstring Muscle of Type 1 Diabetic Rats

Loss of muscle mass is one of the side effects of diabetes that may be delayed by regulating blood sugar levels through exercise or herbal supplements. Thirty-five male rats (180±10 g) were assigned to seven groups of control, diabetic, diabetic + exercise, diabetic + vanadium, diabetic + exercise + vanadium, diabetic + stevia, and diabetic + exercise + stevia. To induce type 1 diabetes, streptozotocin (55 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally, and vanadium extract (1mg/ml) was daily dissolved in water. The endurance training program consisted of eight weeks of treadmill running, five days a week, starting at 15 minutes at 20 meters/minute and ending at 35 minutes at 30 meters/minute in the final week. Histopathological changes in brain tissue were examined using a light microscope. In order to normalize the parametric data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and for their analysis, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test, and for non-parametric data, Kruskal-Wallis test (p ≤ 0.05) were used. Body weight values ​​in all six experimental groups significantly decreased compared to healthy control group (p=0.001), in vanadium group compared to vanadium + exercise (p = 0.01), and in stevia + exercise group compared to stevia (p = 0.04). In the diabetic group, slight changes in cell number and size improved with exercise along with vanadium and stevia, and consumption of stevia, as well as cell degeneration with exercise along with vanadium and stevia, and consumption of vanadium and stevia (p=0.001). Eight weeks of endurance exercise, stevia, and vanadium intake appear to be effective in regulating body weight as well as improving the hamstring muscle damage caused by diabetes.
.