The effect of swimming and running exercises on oxidant-antioxidant and lipid profiles in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Background: Lifestyle changes in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) positively affect blood glucose and all risk factors. This study aims to determine the effect of swimming and running exercises on oxidant-antioxidant and lipid profiles in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic and non-diabetic rats.

Methods: We included forty-eight adult male Wistar albino rats in this study, and we randomly classified them into six groups (eight per group). The groups were organized as Control Sedentary, Control Exercise-swimming, Control Exercise-running (CE-r), Diabetes Sedentary (DS), Diabetes Exercise-swimming (DE-s), and Diabetes Exercise running (DE-r). Half of these rats were subjected to experimental diabetes via STZ. We evaluated total oxidant capacity (TOC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and as lipid parameters: high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides. The rats were sacrificed at the end of the four weeks.

Results: We found a significant difference between DE-s and DE-r groups in terms of TOC (p =0.043) and SOD (p =0.030). The highest TAC was found in the CE-r group, and the highest TOC was found in the DS group. Exercise significantly reduced LDL levels. There was no significant difference between the DE-s and DE-r groups (p =0.084) for lipid profiles (HDL).

Conclusion: Based on the lower TOC (oxidant) and higher SOD (antioxidant) levels in the diabetic running group, these results suggest that running may be more beneficial than swimming for diabetics. HIPPOKRATIA 2023, 27 (4):148-154.