Effect of aerobic training on diabetic nephropathy in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus

The effect of aerobic exercise intervention on the renal functional and ult rastructural changes associated with diabetes mellitus were studied in the obese Zucker rat, a rat model of type 2 diabetes. The obese Zucker rats beg an training at 18 wk of age (n=8) and were compared to obese sedentary cont rols (n=12) and lean sedentary nondiseased littermates (n=10). Body weight, kidney weight, serum creatinine, urine creatinine, creatinine clearance, u rine IgG, urine IgG/creatinine ratio, urine total protein, urine albumin, u rine albumin/creatinine ratio, glycated hemoglobin, serum fructosamine, fas ting serum glucose, serum insulin, serum total cholesterol, serum triglycer ides, blood pressure, and morphometric analyses of cortical glomeruli by li ght microscopy and electron microscopy were performed to evaluate renal fun ction, structure, and metabolic control. The exercise training consisted of treadmill running, 5 da/wk for 1 hr/da. Exercise intervention lowered the body weight (p <0.05), reduced the percentage of glycated hemoglobin (p <0. 05), and diminished the urine albumin concentration (p <0.05), compared to the obese sedentary controls. Exercise intervention did not significantly a ffect morphometric indices of renal ultrastructure. This study shows that a erobic exercise intervention significantly improved metabolic control and r educed albuminuria in a rat model of type 2 diabetes.