The Effect of 8 Weeks Endurance Training on Myocardial GLUT4 and Liver Enzymes in Type 2 Diabetic Rats

Over the years type 2 diabetes, in addition to causing irreversible effects on various parts of the body, also causes liver dysfunction and increases the risk of heart failure, but due to the lack of physical symptoms, less attention has been paid. So, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of 8 weeks of endurance training on diabetic indexes and myocardial GLUT4 and liver enzymes of type 2 diabetic rats.

A total number of 24 rats (220±20) were divided randomly into three groups; 1-Non-diabetic Control group (NC, n=8). 2-Diabetic Control group (D, n=8) To induce type 2 diabetes, high-fat diets were given to rats for two weeks, then streptozotocin (Aldrich company) at a dose of 37 mg / kg in citrate buffer M0.1 (PH4.5) after 6 hours of intraperitoneal fasting was injected, For the healthy control group, the same amount of buffer was injected. Also, aerobic exercise groups ran 5 times a week and 8 weeks on a motorized treadmill. Diabetic index’s, myocardial GLUT4 (Western blotting) and liver enzymes (ELISA) of rats were measured.

Endurance training significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, insulin resistance index (both P= 0.00). It also caused a significant increase in insulin (P= 0.01) and insulin sensitivity index (P= 0.00) compared to the diabetic control group. On the other hand, the amount of GLUT4 in the training group increased significantly (P= 0.01). The results also showed that in comparison with the diabetic control group, ALT and AST did not increase significantly in diabetics with endurance training (P= 0.30, P= 0.5, respectively).

Based on the results, it seems that endurance training significantly increases the level of GLUT4 in the heart and significantly decreased diabetic parameters such as fasting glucose, HOMA-IR index and liver enzymes.