Effect of exercise in pregnant rats with mild diabetes on the immunological system and biochemical profiles

Materials and methods The experimental severe diabetes was induced in newborn female Wistar rats in the first day of birth by intravenous injection of Streptozotocin in a dose of 100 mg/Kg. In adult life (110 days) the rats were submitted to oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to confirm the moderate diabetes. After its confirmation, rats were mated and randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups (minimum n=13 animals/group): Control: non-diabetic pregnant rats without exercise (sedentary); Exercise: non-diabetic pregnant rats exposed to exercise; Diabetic: diabetic pregnant rats without exercise; Diabetic Exercise: diabetic pregnant rats exposed to exercise. The moderate intensity exercise program was swimming, from the 7th to 20th days of pregnancy. On days 0 and 17 of pregnancy, it was performed OGTT. At day 21 of pregnancy, the rats were anesthetized and the blood collected to evaluate immunological and biochemical parameters. Maternal organs (heart, liver, spleen and kidneys) were removed and immediately weighed to obtain its relative weight. Analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test were used, and the differences were considered statistically significant when p< 0.05.