Abstract
BACKGROUND: Arginase enzyme plays a key role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. This study evaluated the effects of aerobic training combined with hydro-alcoholic cinnamon extract (HACE) on the protein levels of Akt, arginase and eNOS in the soleus muscle of rats with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Thirty-six male Wistar rats (248.63 ± 4.05 gr) were randomly assigned into control (C; n = 6), diabetes (D; n = 8), diabetes and supplement (DS; n = 8), diabetes and aerobic training (DE; n = 7), and diabetes, aerobic training and supplement (DES; n = 7) groups. Moderate-intensity aerobic training was performed 5 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Rats in the DS and DES groups received 200 mg/kg of HACE daily by gavage. Blood and soleus muscle collected, and blood glucose level and protein levels of Akt, arginase and eNOS were measured using glucometer and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: The level of arginase enzyme in D, DE and DS groups was significantly higher than in C and DES groups (P = 0.001). Also, the levels of eNOS and Akt were significantly higher in the DES group than in the D and DS (P < 0.05) groups. Negative changes in blood glucose were significantly greater in the DES group compared with the C (P = 0.001) and D (P = 0.041) groups. Significant correlations were found between glucose changes with weight changes (r = -0.76), arginase (r = + 0.59), Akt (r = -0.73) and eNOS (r = -0.70), and arginase with eNOS (r = -0.66) and Akt (r = -0.64), and Akt with eNOS (r = + 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that combining aerobic training with HACE supplementation may help modulate glucose metabolism and endothelial function in type 2 diabetic rats, potentially through balancing arginase and eNOS activity.