Investigation of MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ gene expression changes in the soleus muscle of obese diabetic rats following ۸ weeks of high-intensity interval training combined with quercetin supplementation

Background: MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ are two key genes involved in the muscle atrophy pathway and are upregulated in diabetes, particularly under conditions of insulin resistance and inflammation, leading to increased degradation of muscle proteins and reduced muscle mass. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate changes in MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ gene expression in the soleus muscle of obese diabetic rats following ۸ weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with quercetin supplementation. Methods: In this experimental study, ۲۵ adult male rats (Age= ۱۲ weeks old and weight= ۱۸۰-۲۰۰ gr) were purchased and randomly assigned to five groups: healthy control (HC, n= ۵), diabetes control (DC, n= ۵), quercetin control (QC, n= ۵), HIIT (HIIT, n= ۵), and HIIT with quercetin (QHIIT, n= ۵). Eight weeks of HIIT training was performed. Type ۲ diabetes (T۲DM) was induced in the rats using STZ and ۸ weeks of a high-fat diet. Quercetin was injected for ۸ weeks in the supplementation groups. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey's post-hoc test was used to analyze the data. Significance was set at P-Value < ۰.۰۵. Results: The results showed that after T۲DM induction, blood glucose and MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ gene expression levels in the soleus muscle of rats significantly increased (P-Value<۰.۰۰۱). After eight weeks of training and supplementation interventions, blood glucose significantly decreased in all intervention groups (P-Value =۰.۰۰۱), and only in the HIIT with quercetin supplementation group was there a significant decrease in both MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ gene expression (P-Value =۰.۰۰۱). Conclusion: HIIT and quercetin supplementation alone reduced blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. Although HIIT and quercetin supplementation alone did not affect MuRF۱ and Atrogin-۱ gene expression, the combination of both interventions resulted in significant changes. This suggests that the combined use of HIIT exercise and quercetin supplementation has a notable effect on selected factors related to atrophy in diabetic rats.

کلیدواژه ها:

Atrophy ، MuRF۱ protein ، Atrogin-۱ protein ، High-Intensity Interval Training ، Diabetes Mellitus ، Soleus Muscle