The effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training on the function of beta cells and uncoupled protein 2 pancreas of diabetic obese rats

  Exercise is a type of non-pharmacological treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes, and at the same time, the molecular mechanisms responsible for genetic adaptations to it, especially in the pancreas, are less known. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training on the function of beta cells and uncoupled protein 2 of the pancreas of diabetic obese rats.

In this experimental study, 24 obese diabetic and healthy rats (220 ± 5 g) were randomly divided into three equal groups: HE healthy, DI diabetic, and DI-AT aerobic training diabetic. The DI-AT group participated in a 12-week aerobic training program with 5 sessions per week, and the control group did not participate in any training program. Glucose concentration was measured by glucose oxidase colorimetric method, serum insulin by ELISA method and UCP2 gene expression by RT-Real time PCR method. The data were analyzed using the statistical method of one-way analysis of variance at a significance level of 0.05.

At the end of the research, the relative expression of pancreatic tissue UCP2 gene and HOMA-B of the DI-AT group was significantly lower than the DI group (PHOMA-B = 0.001: PUCP2 = 0.001). And it was more than HE group (PHOMA-B=0.001: PUCP2=0.001).

Aerobic training improves the glycemic profile and insulin level in type 2 diabetic rats, probably part of this improvement can be related to the change in the relative expression of UCP2 gene in the pancreatic tissue of diabetic rats.