The Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on the Intracellular Content of the Central Protein of Mechanical Target of Rapamycin 1/2 Complexes in the EDL Skeletal Muscle of Rats with Type 1 Diabetes

Muscle atrophy is one of the serious complications of type 1 diabetes. Important cellular mechanisms including pathways related to mTOR protein are very important in regulating muscle mass; Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the intracellular content of the central protein of mechanical target of rapamycin 1/2 complexes in EDL skeletal muscle of rats with type 1 diabetes.

In this experimental study, 12 three-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats with an average weight of 300±20 grams were selected. Type 1 diabetes was induced through intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin solution (50 mg/kg of body weight). These rats were randomly divided into two groups, diabetic exercise, and diabetic control; The training group performed HIIT for six weeks at an intensity of 85-95% of maximum speed. Data analysis was done through an independent t-test in SPSS software version 28. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.

The intracellular content of total and phosphorylated forms of mTOR protein showed a significant increase after six weeks of HIIT (P=0.0001). Also, the ratio of total to phosphorylated intracellular content of mTOR protein showed a significant increase in the training group compared to the control group (P=0.0001).

HIIT increased the intracellular content of total and phosphorylated forms of mTOR protein, which could possibly lead to protein synthesis and increased muscle hypertrophy.