The Combined Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training and Metformin on Gene Expression of Myogenin and Myostatin in Skeletal Muscle of Type 2 Diabetic Mice

Background: Myogenin (MyoG) and Myostatin (Mstn) play role in muscle growth and wasting, respectively. The present study aimed to investigate the combined effect of High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Metformin drug (Metf) on gene expression of MyoG and Mstn in skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic mice. Methods: 25 mice (C57BL/6) were assigned to two groups, including 1) Control © (n=5), and 2) HFD (n=20). The mice of the HFD group were fed a high-fat diet for 16 weeks. After 16 weeks, the mice with over 200 mg/dl were selected as diabetic mice. Then, the diabetic mice were divided into four groups including 1) Control Diabetic (CD) (n=5), 2) Diabet with Metf (DM) (n=5), 3) Diabet with HIIT (DH) (n=5) 4) Diabet with Metf and HIIT (DMH) (n=5). The mice of experimental groups underwent the interventions for eight weeks. The Real-Time–PCR methods were used to measure the mRNA expression of MyoG and Mstn in the Rectus-Femoris muscle. Results: HIIT (but no Metf) upregulated the gene expression of MyoG (p=0.05). Metformin did not affect Mstn expression (p=0.45), However, HIIT downregulated the expression of Mstn (p=0.001). Metformin did not affect decreasingly or incrementally the downregulating effect of HIIT on Mstn expression (p=0.95). Conclusion: Metf may not positively or negatively affect the expression changes of MyoG and Mstn induced by HIIT in skeletal muscle of mice with type 2 diabetes.