The effect of atorvastatin drug and continuous aerobic exercise on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor beta gene in the liver tissue of diabetic rats

Vascular endothelial growth factor beta (VEGF-β) plays a role in lipid metabolism, contrary to its weak role in angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of training and atorvastatin on the expression of the VEGF-β gene in the liver tissue of diabetic rats.

In this study, 25 rats were divided into control, diabetes, diabetes + exercise, diabetes + atorvastatin, and diabetes + atorvastatin + exercise groups. The interventions included eight weeks of aerobic exercise, running on a treadmill and taking 10 mg of atorvastatin by gavage. After the interventions, the rats were sacrificed and the liver tissue was analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and LSD post hoc test.

The results showed that the induction of diabetes led to a significant decrease in hepatic VEGF-β gene expression and an increase in serum glucose and total cholesterol compared to the healthy control group. In the groups of diabetes + exercise and diabetes + atorvastatin + exercise, the increase of VEGF-β and the decrease of glucose and cholesterol were significant compared to the control diabetes and diabetes + atorvastatin groups.

According to the results, it can be said that continuous aerobic training can prevent liver complications caused by diabetes by increasing the expression of VEGF-β gene, however, despite the positive effects of atorvastatin on serum glucose and total cholesterol, it does not have a significant effect on hepatic VEGF-β gene expression in diabetic rats.