Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of high intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in male Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: For this experimental study, 24 male Wistar rats (250±20 gram) were divided in to 4 groups (n=6 each) basal control (n=6), 8 week controls (n=6), MICT (n=6), and HIIT (n=6) groups. The training program was running on the 4 treadmill for 8 weeks/5 days per week. Intensity of the MICT protocol was 50-75 of VO2max, and the duration was approxinately 15 to 60 minutes, which progressively increased. The HIIT protocol was 4-8×1 min with 70-100 of VO2 max and 1 min recovery with 50-70 VO2max, for a total duration of 15 to 23 minutes. Adipose tissue samples were removed 48 hours after the last training session and VEGF gene expression was measured by Real-Time PCR methods. Results: Results indicated that both MICT and HIIT induced significant increase in subcutaneous VEGF gene expression (P≤0.05), whereas, no significant changes in visceral VEGF gene expression were observed after either training protocol (P≥0.05). Conclusion: Based on findings, the MICT protocol, HIIT exercise training in particular, has more effects on subcutaneous adipose tissue angiogenesis than on visceral adipose tissue. © 2017, Endocrine Research Center. All rights reserved.