The Effect of 12 Weeks of Aerobic Training on GLP-1 Receptor Expression in Pancreatic Tissue and Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Clinical evidences confirm the important role of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in insulin secretion. This study aimed to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of aerobic training on GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1R) expression in pancreas tissue, insulin, and glucose concentration in type 2 diabetic rats.   Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, diabetes type 2 was induced in 14 male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of nicotinamide-STZ and they were assigned to two groups of exercise (n=7) and control (n=7). Fasting levels of glucose, insulin, and GLP-1R expression in pancreas tissue, were measured in both groups after an aerobic exercise program in the form of running on treadmill for 12 weeks (5 sessions per week). The control group did not participate in exercise program. The obtained data were compared using independent t-test. The significance level was considered to be p<0.05.   Results: A significant improvement was observed in glycemic profile as a decrease in fasting glucose following aerobic trainings in the exercise group as compared to the control group (p=0.001). also, serum insulin concentrations (p=0.008) and relative expression of GLP-1R in the pancreas tissue (p=0.033), significantly increased in the exercise rats compared to the control group.   Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, long-term aerobic training effectively leads to improvement in insulin secretion and glycemic control. This improvement can be attributed to increased GLP-1R expression in the pancreas tissue.

Keywords

• diabetes mellitus
• type 2
• exercise
• insulin
• gene expression