The Role of Licorice Extract and Selected Swimming Exercise on Sirt1 Signaling Pathways in Soleus Muscle of Diabetic Male Rats

Sirtuin-1 is known as a key metabolic sensor in various tissues, including skeletal muscle and tissue, which can play a pivotal role in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism through diacetylase activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of licorice extract and swimming exercise on SIRT1 signaling pathways in the soleus muscle of diabetes male rats.

The research is of an experimental and fundamental type, and the working method is an experimental work with a descriptive-solution nature. Fifty mice were bought and divided into 5 groups of 10. The main training program consisted of swimming in the rodent tank of the special swimming water tank for 6 weeks and 5 sessions per week. In order to induce diabetes in the mice, streptozotocin was injected. Seven days after the injection, the blood sugar of the mice was measured, and the mice with blood sugar more than 250 ml/dL were selected as diabetes samples. Licorice root extract was given to two groups of rats. In order to analyze, two-way analysis of variance was used using SPSS26 software.

The results showed that the interaction effect of swimming training and consumption of licorice extract on SIRT1 signaling pathways is statistically significant (P= 0.002).

SIRT1 plays an important role in the control of glucose homeostasis. In fact, under certain conditions, the activity and expression level of SIRT1 gene decreases in different SI tissues due to its important metabolic role. Swimming training along with licorice supplement may be used for prevention and treatment of diabetes by positive regulation of SIRT1 gene expression.