Exercise training reduces insulin resistance and upregulates the mTOR/p70S6k pathway in cardiac muscle of diet-induced obesity rats.

Obesity and insulin resistance are rapidly expanding public health problems. These disturbances are related to many diseases, including heart pathology. Acting through the Akt/mTOR pathway, insulin has numerous and important physiological functions, such as the induction of growth and survival of many cell types and cardiac hypertrophy.

Exercise training provides cardioprotection via a reduction in reactive oxygen species in rats submitted to myocardial infarction induced by isoproterenol.

Exercise training has demonstrated cardioprotection effects. However, the exact mechanism behind this effect is not is clear. The present study evaluated the effects of 12 weeks of previous treadmill training on the levels of oxidative damage, antioxidant enzyme activity and injury in the myocardium of rats submitted to infarction induced by isoproterenol (ISO).