Amirbahador Dakhili, Reza Gharakhanlou, Mansoureh Movaheddin, Ali Khazani, Mohammad Keshavarz,
Volume 13, Issue 3 (3-2014)
Abstract
Background: Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes
mellitus, which is associated with a decrease in the synthesis and transport of neurotrophins .
The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of endurance training on gene expression of
nerve growth factor (NGF) in the sensory spinal cord of rats with diabetic neuropathy.
Methods: Twenty eight adult male Wistar rats in the body mass range of 326.3±8.4 gr, randomly
assigned in to four groups: diabetic control, diabetic training, healthy control and healthy training. For
inducing diabetic neuropathy, after twelve hours of food deprivation, intraperitoneal injection of STZ
solution (45 mg/Kg) method was used. Two weeks after STZ injection, the endurance training
protocol was performed for six weeks and Twenty four hours after the last training session, rats were
sacrificed. Gene expression of NGF in rat spinal sensory segments were measured with Real time
technique. In order to determine the significant differences between groups and Interaction
independent variables two way anova and LSD post hoc test were used.
Results: Endurance training, resulted in a significant increase in gene expression of NGF in the rats.
Also, in compare with diabetic control, training led to significant decrease in blood glucose levels in
diabetic training group.
Conclusion: Increased physical activity and exercise can strongly affect pathological factors
associated with diabetic neuropathy by increasing nerve growth factor. It is recommended that for
prevention of neurological complications and treatment of diseases associated with diabets exercise
training could be used as a non-pharmachological treatment.
