Investigation of an Increase in the Expression of the Mir146a Gene in The Hippocampus and a Decrease in the Levels of Blood Sugar, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance in Elderly Diabetic Rats after a Period of High-Intensity Interval Training

MicroRNAs have been reported as potentially valuable biomarkers for various ‎diseases, including diabetes, heart diseases, neurological diseases, and age-related diseases. The ‎present study aimed to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of intense intermittent exercise on the ‎expression of mir146a, blood sugar, insulin, and insulin resistance in the hippocampus of aged diabetic male rats.

This study was performed on 40 male Wistar rats aged 18-21 months with an average weight of ‎‎280±20 g. After becoming diabetic through streptozotocin solution, they were ‎randomly divided into 4 groups, including 1) healthy high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercise, 2) healthy control, 3) diabetic HIIT exercise, and 4) diabetic control. It should be mentioned that each group included 10 rats. The exercise groups exercised 5 days a week ‎according to the HIIT programs for 8 weeks. The collected data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism software (version 8) at a significance level of P<0.05.

The results showed that 8 weeks of HIIT exercise increased the ‎expression of mir146a in both of the exercise groups, compared to the diabetic control ‎group (P<0.001). Moreover, the blood sugar, insulin, and insulin resistance levels significantly decreased in the diabetic exercise, healthy HIIT exercise, ‎‎and healthy control ‎groups, compared to the diabetic control group (P<0.001).‎

It can be concluded that 8 weeks of HIIT training, which increased the expression of mir146a, can reduce neuronal destruction in the hippocampus region. Moreover, it can be used as a suitable non-therapeutic mechanism for diabetics to prevent or reduce damage in this brain region that is related to cognitive abilities.