Continuous and Intermittent Exercise Training and Glucose Metabolism in Neonatal Alloxan Administered Rats

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to compare the effects of intermittent and continuous swimming training on glucose metabolism in neonatal alloxan treated rats.

Methods: Alloxan was injected in newborn rats at 6 days of age (250 mg/kg bw). At 28 days of age, the animals were divided into sedentary alloxan (SA), sedentary control (SC), continuous trained alloxan (CA), intermittent trained alloxan (IA), continuous trained control (CC) and intermittent trained control (IC) groups. The continuous training protocol consisted of 12 weeks swimming (1 h/day), uninterrupted, five days a week, in individual cylinder tanks (25 cm diameter x 50 cm depth), and with supporting overload of 5% bw. Intermittent training consisted of 12 weeks of swimming (30 s), interrupted by rest (30 s), in individual cylinder tanks (25 cm diameter x 50 cm depth), for a total of 20 min/day, five days a week, and with an overload of 15% bw.

Results: At 28 days, the alloxan treated animals showed both a higher area under the curve (AUC) values for serum glucose during a glucose tolerance test (GTT) and a lower glucose disappearance rate (Kitt) during an insulin tolerance test (ITT), indicating insulin resistance in the first group. At 120 days, the alloxan treated animals subjected to the intermittent training showed higher serum glucose AUC than the controls after a GTT. The glucose uptake by isolated soleus muscle was higher in the animals trained by the intermittent protocol than in the others.

Conclusion: In conclusion, intermittent exercise was more effective than continuous exercise in improving glucose uptake by skeletal muscle.

J Endocrinol Metab. 2011;1(3):101-112
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jem32w