effect of exercise training and atorvastatin supplementation on beclin1, lc3-i and lc3-п expression in old diabetic rats

Background and objectives: programmed autophagy is a genetically and evolutionarily conserved process that destroys long-lived cellular proteins and organelles. this study aimed to investigate effects of continuous and interval exercise training with or without atorvastatin supplementation on beclin1, lc3-i and lc3-п expression in old rats with type 2 diabetes. methods: sixty three male wistar rats were divided into eight groups. continuous exercise was performed at a speed of 15-29 m/min for 5-22 minutes. interval exercise program consisted of six 2.5-minute sets that included a four-minute rest period between each set. the rats in the supplementation groups also received 20 mg/kg body weight atorvastatin daily via intraperitoneal injection. at the end of the training period, the expression of beclin1, lc3-i and lc3-п in soleus muscle was measured by rt-pcr. one-way anova was used for data analysis at statistical significance of 0.05. results: the results showed that both exercise trainings with or without atorvastatin significantly reduced lc3i, lc3-ii and beclin1 compared with the diabetic control group (p<0.05). in addition, the effects of the trainings and atorvastatin supplement did not differ significantly (p>0.05). conclusion: the results indicate that continuous and interval exercise program alone and combined with atorvastatin supplementation could significantly reduce lc3-1, lc3-ii and beclin1 level in soleus muscle of old diabetic rats.