Effect of High Intensity Interval Training with Metformin on Lipid Profiles and HbA1c in Diabetic Rats

Objective: Type2 diabetes (T2DM) as a metabolic disease is associated with absolute or relative insulin deficiency, increased blood glucose and carbohydrate metabolism disorders which is considered as risk factors of other diseases such as cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, the effect of eight weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on lipid profile (TG, LDL and HDL), glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats was investigated. Materials and Methods: Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups: healthy, diabetic, diabetic + metformin, healthy + training, diabetic + training and diabetic + training + Metformin. The training groups performed eight weeks of HIIT. Metformin was given 150 mg / kg to the rats by gavage every day. T2DM was induced by injection of nicotinamide and streptozotocin and 48 hours after the end of last training session, the rats were sacrificed. Then lipid profile, blood glucose and HbA1c were measured. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The results of this study showed that TG levels were low in diabetic training and diabetic + training + metformin groups compared to the diabetic group (P-value: 0.0001). There weren't any significant differences between total cholesterol, LDL-c and HDL-c levels between groups. Blood glucose levels were significantly lower in diabetic + training and diabetic + training + metformin groups compared to diabetic controls (P-value: 0.0001). HbA1c levels were significantly lower in diabetic + training and diabetic + training + metformin than in diabetic group (P-value: 0.0001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that severe periodic exercise can be considered as an important strategy for improving lipid profiles and blood glucose control in T2DM patients.