Protective effect of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training with quercetin supplementation on the apoptosis cardiomyopathy related factors in the diabetic cardiac of obese rats

Quercetin has significant antidiabetic effects and may help decrease blood glucose levels and increase insulin sensitivity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) with quercetin supplementation on apoptosis cardiomyopathy-related factors in the diabetic cardiac of obese rats. In this experimental study, 35 adult male rats were divided into 7 groups: healthy control (HC, n = 5), diabetic control (DC, n = 5), diabetic quercetin control (DQC, n = 5), diabetic HIIT (DHT, n = 5), diabetic MICT (DMT, n = 5), DHIIT with quercetin supplementation (DQHT, n = 5) and DMICT with quercetin supplementation (DQMT, n = 5). Rats were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks and treated with a unique dose of streptozotocin (25 mg/kg i.p.) to create a model of type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM ). Eight weeks of HIIT and MICT with and without quercetin were performed for the intervention groups, and quercetin supplementation was administered during the 8 weeks. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post-hoc test with a significance level of (P < 0.05). The findings showed that the protein content of AKT and PI3K significantly decreased, but FOXO3 protein content, caspase-8 gene expression, and blood glucose as well as inflammatory markers levels significantly increased (P < 0.05) by inducing DM. Eight weeks of quercetin supplementation, HIIT, and MICT training with and without quercetin supplementation significantly decreased blood glucose levels (P < 0.05). Just 8 weeks of HIIT and MICT training protected the protein content of PI3K, AKT, and caspase-8 gene expression, especially when combined with quercetin supplementation (P < 0.05). Quercetin and both training protocols improved inflammatory markers and lipid levels (P < 0.05). These changes were more effective when training protocols were combined with quercetin supplementation. Therefore, blood glucose decrease and improvement in inflammatory markers and lipid levels by quercetin injection is a promising template for developing new antidiabetic drugs. Therefore, although apoptosis was increased in the heart of diabetic rats, both exercises, especially when combined with quercetin, played a critical role in diabetic cardiomyopathy treatment by modulating the FOXO3 and PI3K/AKT pathways.