Abstract
Aim. – Analyze the effects of exercise training on cardiac sarco endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) 2 gene expression of genetically obese Zucker rats, an animal model of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Methods. – Twenty male and 20 female Zucker fatty rats ran 30–50 min/d at 35–40% VO 2max, 6 d/week for 13 weeks. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR associated with specific restriction fragment analysis was used to detect and quantify the relative expression of SERCA mRNA isoforms. Results. – Fatty rats had an enhanced expression of SERCA2 and phospholamban (PLB) mRNA levels in ventricles. Moreover, fatty rats exposed to a moderate treadmill running exercise for 13 weeks exhibited a significant increase in ventricles SERCA2 mRNA levels, whereas, no change occurred in control lean rats. Exercise training produced a significant induction of α-myosin heavy chain mRNA levels only in fatty rats. Conclusion. – We hypothesize that exercise training may improve the cardiac function in diabetic rats by increasing the mRNA expression of SERCA2 since it is known that NIDDM rats have a reduced left ventricular diastolic compliance, and that exercise training improves the ventricular function in diabetic rats.
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