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Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a 12 weeks interval training with high and moderate intensity on PGC-1α of skeletal muscle in type 2 diabetic male rats.
Methods: 40 male rats were divided into two groups: High fat diet (HFD) (n=32) and standard diet (C) (n=8) for 10 weeks. After inducing type2 diabetes via STZ, 8 diabetic rats (D) and 8 rats in group C rats sacrificed and the remaining 24 Rats were randomly assigned to three groups of diabetic control (DC), moderate intensity interval training (MIIT) and high intensity interval training (HIIT).The MIIT protocol includes 13 bouts of 4-minute activity with equivalent intensity of 60-65% vo2max  and the HIIT protocol includes 10 bouts of 4-minute activity with equivalent intensity of 85-90% vo2max with 2 minute active rest periods that was applied for 12 weeks, 5 sessions per week. Western Blot method was used to measure PGC-1α protein levels.
Results: The results showed that PGC-1α protein levels were significantly lower in the D group compared to the HC group. In contrast, the HIIT protocol resulted in an increase in protein levels of PGC-1α compared to DC2 group. While MICT had no significant effect on protein levels of PGC-1α (P <0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between the two training groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: It seems that the intensity of interval training plays an important role in the regulation of skeletal muscle PGC-1α and possibly mitochondria biogenesis in type 2 diabetic rats.
 

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Background: Cardiomyopathy is one of adverse effects of diabetes that associated with cardiac muscle metabolism and function disruption. Exercise training decreases adverse effects of diabetes on heart by changing genes involved in cardiac metabolism and increasing myokines secretion. So, the aim of this study was to investigate of 8 weeks aerobic training on cardiac PGC-1α gene expression and plasma irisin in STZ-induced diabetics’ rats.
Methods: 16 STZ-induced diabetics Wistar rats (10 weeks old) divided into control and aerobic training groups. Time and intensity of exercise session began with 15 minutes and 10 m/min, and gradually increased to 40 minutes and 25 m/min at seventh week and kept to the end of eighth’s week (8 weeks). Cardiac PGC-1α gene expression analyzed by PCR, and plasma concentration of insulin, glucose were analyzed by ELISA method 48 hours after the last session of exercise training. Data were analyzed by independent t test at alpha level of 0/05.
Results: the results showed that aerobic exercise training increased PGC-1α concentration (P<0/001) and plasma irisin (P<0/001). Further analysis showed that aerobic exercise training decreased glucose concentration (P<0/001) and increased insulin concentration (P<0/001), but had no effect of insulin resistance (P=0/79). In addition, the results revealed that there is a positive correlation between PGC-1α and plasma irisin (P<0/001) and insulin (P=0/019), but it has a negative correlation with plasma glucose (P=0/001). There is also a positive significant correlation between isirin and insulin (P=0/001), and a negative correlation between irisin and glucose (P=0/002).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that aerobic exercise training induces increased cardiac PGC-1α gene expression and plasma irisin. These changes have a significant correlation with lowered glucose and increased plasma insulin insulin in STZ-induced diabetics’ rats.
 

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Background: One of the most important biological pathways involved in maintaining energy homeostasis is the AMPK PGC-1α pathway. Activation of this pathway through exercise can be important in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis processes and maintaining energy balance in diabetics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of endurance exercise on the content of AMPK and PGC-1α proteins in the left ventricular heart tissue of male rats with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: In this experimental study, 12 two-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats with a mean weight of 270±20 g were selected. After diabetic induction with STZ and Nicotinamide, rats were randomly assigned to two groups, training diabetic and control diabetic (6 heads in group each). The training group performed 4 days a week for 8 weeks, including 30 minutes of endurance training with an intensity of about 50 to 70% of the maximum speed; While the control group did not have any training program. Also, rats did not receive any insulin treatment during the study period. The independent t-test was used in SPSS software version 21 to analyze the data.

Results: A significant increase was observed in the content of AMPK (P=0.002) and PGC-1α (P=0.0001) proteins in the endurance exercise group compared to control.
Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, endurance exercise was able to significantly increase the content of AMPK and PGC-1α proteins. Therefore, it is possible that an increasing these proteins can lead to energy production and increase mitochondrial biogenesis.

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Background: The relationship between low PGC-1α expression and several metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity has been identified. This study investigates the effect of eight-week high intensity interval training (HIIT) and caffeine intake on mitochondrial biogenesis in soleus muscle in diabetic rats induced Streptozotocin.
Methods: In a clinical-interventional animal study, 50 male rats were randomly assigned to 5 equal groups (control group(C), diabetes group(D), diabetes + caffeine group(D+Caf), diabetes + training group(D+T), diabetes + training + caffeine group(D+CAF+T)) and subjected to 8 weeks of caffeine supplementation (70 mg / kg of caffeine powder was injected five days each week) and 8 weeks of 5 sessions per week with 6 to 12 times, 2-min intervals with intensity of 85-90% of maximal speed. Blood was collected directly from the left ventricle to measure blood glucose levels. The soleus muscle of the left leg was extracted and PGC-1α measured by Western Blot method. Independent t-tests, two-way analysis of variance, and Eta squared (p <0.05) were used to analyze the data.
Results: The results showed that induction of diabetes significantly increased blood glucose (P <0.01) and significantly decreased mRNAPGC-1α (P = 0.002). Also, both high-intensity interval training (p = 0.001) and caffeine supplementation (p = 0.03) significantly increased mRNAPGC-1α.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is possible to suggest the use of HIIT and caffeine consumption as an effective intervention in increasing mitochondrial biogenesis in diabetics. However, a clear statement in this regard requires further research in this area.

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Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in patients with type 1 diabetes, and cardiovascular risk remains high even in patients with type 1 diabetes with good metabolic control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of six weeks of aerobic exercise on inflammation and damage indicators of heart tissue in type 1 diabetic male rats.
Methods: In this experimental study, 19 male Wistar rats (mean weight 200-250 g) were randomly divided into four groups: aerobic training, sham, control and healthy. In this study, induction of type 1 diabetes was performed by injecting a single dose of streptozotocin dissolved in sodium citrate buffer intraperitoneally. Aerobic exercise program was performed with intensity of 50-60% VO2max, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. After anesthesia, an autopsy was performed and left ventricle of the heart was removed. Levels of Tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α), Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator (PGC-1α) and Creatine kinase (CK) in rat heart tissue were measured by Western blotting. Data were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test at the P<0.05.
Results:  The results showed that six weeks of aerobic training led to significant decrease in TNF-α and CK and significant increase in PGC-1α of the heart tissue in type 1 diabetic rats (P<0.001).
Conclusion:  According to the results, it seems that aerobic training can help improve the inflammation and damage indicators of heart in type 1 diabetes.

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Background: Diabetic myopathy is one of the major problems in people with type2 diabetes that knowing its mechanisms can be helpful in controlling and preventing this disease. PAX7 and PGC-1α are two proteins involved in the renewal and metabolism of carbohydrates in skeletal muscle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 8weeks of resistance training under hypoxia on the content of PAX7 and PGC-1α proteins in the horseshoe muscle of type 2 diabetic rats.
Methods: In this study, 40 male Wistar rats, 10weeks after induction of type2 diabetes, were divided into five groups: healthy control (HC), diabetic control (DC), resistance training (RT), and resistance training in hypoxia (RT-HPX) and hypoxia group (HPX) were divided. Resistance exercises were performed for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week, in the groups of resistance training and resistance training in hypoxia. The intensity of the exercises started from 30% of the weight of the rats initial and reached 100% of their weight until the end of the training. Resistance training in hypoxia. Hypoxia tent with14.4%oxygen was used to create hypoxia. 48hours after training, tissue samples were taken from horseshoe muscle and evaluated to measure the concentration of PAX7 and PGC-1α proteins.
Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference (P=0.0001) between the research groups in both PAX7 and PGC-1α proteins. Induction of diabetes led to a significant decrease in PAX7, but the hypoxia resistance training group was not significantly different from the healthy control group (P=0.451). PGC1-α protein levels were also significantly decreased in the diabetes induction group compared to the control group (P=0.01), but training in hypoxia increased its levels to more than the healthy control group (P=0.0001).
Conclusion: Hypoxia, resistance training and combination of resistance training in hypoxia increased the amounts of PAX7 and PGC-1α proteins. Therefore, resistance training and temporary and inactive hypoxia exposure can be considered as a suggested solution to improve the indicators related to type2 diabetes in humans.