The long-term effect of moderate-intensity exercise on the expression of the genes irisin and sirtuin-1 in the skeletal muscle of diabetic rats with streptozotocin

Disorders of glucose metabolism in various tissues, including skeletal muscle tissue and adipose tissue are features of diabetes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effect of moderate-intensity continuous exercise on the expression of irisin and sirtuin-1 genes in the skeletal muscle of streptozotocin-nicotinamide-diabetic rats. Thirty-six 8-week-old males were randomly divided into three groups: healthy control (n = 12), diabetic (n = 12), and moderate-persistent diabetes (n = 12). Diabetic groups developed diabetes by intraperitoneal injection of nicotinamide and STZ solution at a doses of 95 and 55 mg/kg. The diabetic-moderate-intensity continuous exercise group performed their training protocol by running on a treadmill for 12 weeks, 5 sessions per week. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the subjects were anesthetized and their horseshoe muscle tissue was removed and the expression of the genes Irisin and Sirtuin-1 was measured. 12 weeks of moderate-intensity continuous exercise in diabetic mice resulted in a significant increase in the expression of the genes Irisin and Sirtuin-1 (p 0.05). Performing 12 weeks of continuous exercise with moderate intensity in diabetic rats increased the expression of Irisin and sirtuin-1. Thus, changes in the expression of irisin and serotonin-1 may improve the symptoms of metabolic syndrome and can be a compensatory mechanism for reducing oxidative stress in diabetics.