Effects of exercises on expressions of retinol binding protein-4 in serum and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase in skeletal muscles of insulin resistant rats

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of exercises on expressions of retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4)in serum and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase(PI3K)in skeletal muscles of insulin-resistant(IR)rats induced by diets.Methods A total of 30 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:normal control group fed with normal diet,IR and exercises groups with high sugar and high fat diet.After 8 weeks,the Wistar rats in exercises group took swimming training for 6 weeks and all groups kept their assigned diets.At the end of 14-week experiment,the body weight(BW)of rats were measured,the general behaviors of rats were observed and then sacrificed.Rats' blood were sampled for measuring the levels of glucose(FPC)and serum RBP4,insulin(FINS),HDL-C,LDL-C,TG,TC.The indexes of IR(HOMA-IR)were calculated.The levels of RBP4 in serum were measured with ELISA technique.The ratios of visceral fat content to BW were calculated too.Immunohistochemistry method was applied to detect the expression levels of PI3K in skeletal muscle.Results(1)The levels of RBP4,TC,TG,FPG in serum in exercises group were lower than those in IR group significantly;the visceral fat content,ratio of visceral fat content to BW,FINS,RBP4,LDL and HOMA-IR in serum increased significantly in IR group after 6 weeks feeding compared with normal control group and exercises group(P＜0.01);the levels of HDL in serum in IR group were lower than those in the other two groups.(2)The expression levels of PI3K in skeletal muscles in exercises group were significantly higher than that in IR group(P＜0.01).(3)In a multiple stepwise regression analysis,FINS,ratio of visceral fat content to BW,LDL and HOMA-IR were correlated with RBP4 positively;HDL and PI3K were correlated with RBP4 negatively.Conclusion Exercises could downregulate the level of RBP4 in serum and upregulate the level of PI3K in skeletal muscles of IR rats.This effect was important for improving the organism sensibility to insulin. Key words: Exercises; Retinol binding protein-4; Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase; Insulin resistant