Studying the effect of metformin and aerobic exercise on some biochemical factors indiabetic and healthy rats

Introduction: high-intensity interval training (hiit) and moderate-intensity continuous training(mct) in combination with metformin in diabetic patients is likely to be effective. this researchaimed to investigate the possible role of hiit and mct training alone and also in combination withmetformin on biochemical factors and lipid profiles in diabetic and healthy rats.materials and methods: sprague-dawley rats were allocated randomly into nine groups (in eachgroup n = 5). streptozotocin and nicotinamide were used to induce diabetes in target rats. specialdiets were given to all groups of rats and exercise protocol was performed one time per week for 8weeks. rats received metformin (200 mg/kg) daily by gavage. the biochemical factors and serumlipid profiles were measured. data analysis was performed using spss software and the significancelevel was considered at p < 0.05.results: the lowest serum glucose and insulin levels among diabetic rats belonged to the diabeticgroup who received metformin and performed hiit training (p < 0.05). diabetic groups thatperformed hiit and mct training compared with the diabetic group that consumed metformin alonehad lower hba1c levels, which this difference was not significant (p < 0.05). the lowest triglyceridelevel among the treated diabetic groups was in the group that received metformin and performed hiittraining (p < 0.05). the results of hdl, ldl and cholesterol changes were similar to those found fortriglyceride.conclusion: the study showed that both hiit and mct exercise, even in the absence of metformin,significantly reduce some biochemical factors and lipid profile levels as well as improve body weightin the diabetic rats under treatment with metformin compared with the diabetic control group.