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 ultrastructural changes associated with diabetes mellitus were studied in the obese Zucker rat, a rat model of type 2 diabetes. The obese Zucker rats began training at 18 wk of age (n=8) and were compared to obese sedentary controls (n=12) and lean sedentary nondiseased littermates (n=10). Body weight, kidney weight, serum creatinine, urine creatinine, creatinine clearance, urine IgG, urine IgG/creatinine ratio, urine total protein, urine albumin, urine albumin/creatinine ratio, glycated hemoglobin, serum fructosamine, fasting serum glucose, serum insulin, serum total cholesterol, serum triglycerides, blood pressure, and morphometric analyses of cortical glomeruli by light microscopy and electron microscopy were performed to evaluate renal function, 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 affect morphometric indices of renal ultrastructure. This study shows that aerobic exercise intervention significantly improved metabolic control and reduced albuminuria in a rat model of type 2 diabetes.