The effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on some factors causing oxidative stress in the cardiomyocytes of mice with type II diabetes

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients. This study aimed to compare and investigate the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on oxidative stress as one of the key links in the development of DCM in mice with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Forty male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to four groups of equal number (Control, T2DM, T2DM + HIIT, and T2DM + MICT). After the induction of T2DM, HIIT and MICT programs were conducted 5 days a week for 8 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, blood and heart samples were collected for subsequent measurements.

T2DM significantly up-regulated the levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs, P = 0.001) and the expression of 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX, P = 0.001) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE, P = 0.001) compared to controlled mice. After 8 weeks of training, HIIT and MICT programs increased the levels of insulin (P < 0.001) while reducing the levels of fasting blood glucose (P < 0.001, P = 0.024, respectively). On the other hand, it was found that HIIT and MICT programs significantly decreased the levels of AGEs (P < 0.001), expression of 15-LOX (P = 0.006, P = 0.019, respectively), and 4-HNE (P = 0.008 and P = 0.035, respectively).

Our findings revealed that exercise training, particularly MICT, will be highly helpful in the prevention of DCM through the improvement of glucose metabolism and reduction of 15-LOX expression.