Protective Effect Of Resistance Training On Testicular Structure, Serum Levels Of Malondialdehyde And Total Antioxidant Capacity In Diabetic Male Rats

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common metabolic disorder with high blood glucose. Insulin resistance and oxidative stress caused by T2DM impair the testicular function and structure. This study aims to assess the effect of resistance training on blood glucose, insulin resistance index, serum malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels. METHODS: In this study, 32 male Wistar rats with a mean weight of 200 ± 15 grams were randomly assigned to healthy control, diabetic control, resistance training diabetic, and resistance training groups. The training groups were subjected to ten weeks of resistance training (climbing up a ladder) following the induction of diabetes. Twenty-four hours after the last training session, the left epididymis of the rats was examined to study testicular structure, and serum samples were collected for evaluating MDA and TAC. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's T3 Post Hoc test at 0.05%. RESULTS: Resistance training caused a significant decrease in blood glucose in the diabetic resistance training group compared to the diabetic control group (P ≤ 0.05). Serum levels of MDA and TAC in the diabetic control group showed a significant decrease compared to healthy control and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (P ≤ 0.05). Ten weeks of resistance training significantly increased MDA (P = 0.01) and significantly decreased TAC (P = 0.011) in diabetic resistance training groups compared to the diabetic control group. Resistance training ameliorated the testicular structure, especially the Testis volume (P = 0.001), seminiferous tubules volume (P = 0.023), interstitial tissue volume (P = 0.009), and left testicle weight (P = 0.001) in diabetic resistance training groups compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: It seems that ten weeks of resistance training with different intensities has a positive effect on improving testicular structure in diabetic rats by reducing blood glucose, insulin resistance index, and serum MDA levels and increasing TAC.