anti-apoptotic effects of interval and continued training and crocin on the muscle tissue of the rats with type ii diabetes induced by a high-fat diet

Introduction: diabetes is a metabolic disease, which is directly correlated with increased physical disabilities and muscle tissue damage. the present study aimed to investigate the anti-apoptotic effects of interval and continued training and crocin on diabetic rats. methods: in this study, 49 adult rats aged eight weeks with diabetes inducaed by a high-fat diet and venous injection of streptozotocin were randomly assigned to seven groups, including high-intensity interval training (hiit), low-intensity continued training (lict), hiit with crocin consumption, lict with crocin consumption, crocin consumption, sham, and control. the animals in the hiit and lict groups ran on a treadmill three sessions per week for eight weeks at the intensity of 80-85% and 50-55% of the maximum speed, respectively. the animals in the crocin consumption groups received 25 mg/kg of crocin weekly for eight weeks. results: hiit and lict could significantly increase bcl-2 and decrease bax and p53, as well as the ratio of bax and bcl-2 (p≤0.05). in addition, crocin consumption could significantly increase bcl-2 and decrease bax (p≤0.05). training with crocin consumption had interactive effects on the increase of bcl-2 and decrease of p53 and ratio of bax to bcl-2 (p≤0.05). conclusion: according to the results, continued and interval training along with the consumption of crocin exerted interactive anti-apoptotic effects on the rats with diabetes induced by a high- fat diet.