Gene Expression Modification of Nerve Growth Factor in Motor Spinal Cord of Diabetic Neuropathic Rats During the 6-Week Endurance Training

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus, which is associated with a decrease in the synthesis and transport of neurotrophins. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of endurance training on gene expression of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the motor spinal cord of rats with diabetic neuropathy. Material and Methods: In this basic-experimental study, 16 adult male Wistar rats with the mean weight of 326/3±8/4 gr, randomly cathegorized into the four groups (n=4 in each group): diabetic control, diabetic training, healthy control and healthy training. For inducing diabetic neuropathy, after twelve hours of food deprivation, intraperitonealinjection of STZ solution (45 mg/Kg) method was used. Two weeks after STZ injection, the endurance training protocol was performed for six weeks and twenty-four hours after the last training session, rats were sacrificed. Gene expression of NGF in rats spinal motor segments were measured with Real time-Pcr technique and the 2-ΔΔCT method. The two way ANOVA was used for statistical study. Results:The levels of NGFmRNA were significantly decreased in the motor segment of spinal cord after diabetes (P=0.038), while the endurance training resulted in modified levels of NGF closed to the normal value. Also, in comparsion with diabetic control, training led to significant decrease in blood glucose levels in diabetic training group (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Endurance training after diabetic neuropathy can maintain NGF levels in the normal range. These results suggest that the beneficial therapeutic effects of training after diabetic neuropathy and other neurodegenerative disease might also be atributed to the modulation of NGF.

Keywords: Diabetic neuropathy, Endurance training, Neurotrophin, Nerve growth factor, Spinal cord, Rat