The Effects of Continuous and High Intensity Interval Trainings on Plasma Betatrophin Level in Diabetic Rats Treated with Metformin

Objective: The study aimed to determine the effect of eight weeks high intensity interval (HIIT) and sub-maximal continuous trainings on plasma betatrophin level in diabetic rats treated with metformin. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 42 diabetic wistar rats were divided into six groups (n=7): diabetic control (C), diabetic control + metformin consumption(C+M), diabetic HIIT, diabetic HIIT + metformin (HIIT+M), diabetic sub-maximal continuous training (SMCT), and diabetic sub-maximal continuous training + metformin (SMCT+M). Metformin was given 150 mg/kg/day by gavage every day, 48 hours after the end of the last training session, the rats were sacrificed. Then blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were measured. One-way ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis of data. Results: The level of plasma betatrophin was significantly different in the HIIT (P-value= 0.01) and C+M (P-value= 0.001) groups compared to C group. Blood glucose was significantly decreased in all training groups with or without betatrophin compared with the diabetic control group (P-value= 0.001). However, there were no significant changes between glucose levels in HIIT, HIIT+M, SMCT, and SMCT+M groups but SMCT showed most reduction in blood glucose. Conclusion: Treatment with metformin did not change blood glucose but two types of exercise training with high and moderate intensity reduced blood glucose thus exercise can be a good alternative modality rather than taking medicine.