Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on gene expression ofMicroRNA-126(miR-126) and serum concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor/ sprouty related EVH1 domain containing 1/ rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma 1 (VEGF/Spred-1/Raf-1) proteins effective in cardiac tissue angiogenesis of diabetic rats. Methods Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups of healthy control (HC), diabetic control (DC), diabetic with HIIT training (DT), and healthy with HIIT training (HT). HIIT was performed 6 days per week for 6 weeks (with the overload). Diabetes was induced via the combination of intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin and high-fat foods. Results Diabetes remarkably diminished the expressions ofmiR-126, VEGF and Raf-1 proteins, and augmented Spred-1 expression. Meanwhile, the implementation of HIIT gave rise to a significant enhancement in expression ofmiR-126heart tissue (P < 0.01), and subsequently increased the expression of VEGF and Raf-1 proteins (P < 0.01), and declined Spred-1 expression (P < 0.01) in the training group compared to the control group. Conclusion The results of this study show that HIIT increases the expression ofmiR-126by activating the angiogenesis pathway of the heart tissue. Increased angiogenesis through themiR-126pathway is vital to compensate for heart destruction induced by diabetes. Thus, the use of standard interval exercise can be introduced as a novel therapeutic target for diabetic cardiomyopathy.