Background: The balance of pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors has a significant role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training and moderate continuous on the myocardial angiogenic factors and histological changes in male diabetic rats.

Methods: Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into four groups: healthy non-exercised control, diabetic (D), D + HIIT, and D+ MICT groups. Diabetes type 2 was induced by a high-fat diet for two weeks and a single injection of streptozotocin. Following confirmation of diabetes, animals were subjected to HIIT or MICT protocols 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Western blotting was used for detection of protein expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), (MMP2), and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP2) in the left ventricle. In addition, baseline and final blood glucose and body weight were measured. Histological changes were evaluated using H&E and Masson’s trichrome staining.

Results: The results showed that exercise increased protein levels of pro-angiogenic factors while reduced anti-angiogenic factors protein levels in diabetic animals. These changes were followed by increased capillary density and reduced interstitial fibrosis in the left ventricle, the MICT was superior to HIIT in enhancing angiogenic factors and attenuation of blood glucose and fibrosis in the diabetic rats.

Conclusion: These findings confirm the effectiveness of exercise, particularly MICT, in the improvement of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Faramarz Yazdani has completed his PHD at the age of 35 years from Shahid Rajaee University, IRAN. He is the head of the Physiology of Heart, Vessels, and Breathing Azad department of Shahindezh University, IRAN. He has over 10 publications that have been cited over 100 times, and his publication h-index is 2. He has been serving as an editorial board member of several reputed journals.