The Effect of Exercise with Different Intensity on Glucose Transporter 4 (GLUT4) Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle of Obese Male Rats

The aim of study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and high intensity interval training (HIIT) on the GLUT4 gene expression in skeletal muscle of obese male rats. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats with 150 ± 25 grams body weight were divided into base control (n = 6), obese control (n = 6), MICT (n = 8), and (n = 8) HIIT groups as study sample. At the beginning of the study, base control group rats were sacrificed. In other groups, rats underwent high fat regime diet for 8 weeks. After one week of familiarization, rats in training groups run on treadmill for 8 weeks and 5 days per week. Forty-eight hours after the last session, the rats were scarified and gastrocnemius muscle tissue sample were removed. GLUT4 gene expression was measured by Real-Time PCR methods.
Findings: Results indicated that high fat diet for 8 weeks significantly increased rats body weight (p= 0.001), whereas both of MICT and HIIT training significantly decreased body weight (p= 0.001). Moreover, the MICT and HIIT had significant increase in GLUT4 gene expression in gastrocnemius muscle of obese rats (p = 0.001). Although, there were no differences between two experimental groups (p = 0.99). According to the results, the MICT and HIIT increase gene expression of GLUT4 in mixed muscle fibers in obese rats