The synergistic effect of interval exercise and thyme honey on inflammatory gene downregulation and insulin sensitivity in diabetic nephropathy

This study investigated the combined efficacy of interval training and thyme honey in attenuating the expression of inflammatory genes (TNF-α and TGF-β) in renal tissue and improving insulin resistance in diabetic rats. In this experimental study, 32 young male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: diabetes mellitus control (DM), diabetes and interval training (DM+HIIT), diabetes and thyme honey (DM+TH), and diabetes and interval training-thyme honey (DM+HIIT+TH). Animals in the training group underwent 40 sessions of training over two months with a gradual increase in the number of intense intervals from 2 to 8 intervals and an intensity of 80 to 95% of maximum running speed. At the same time, the samples in the TH groups received thyme honey at a rate of g/kg 3 and 5 days per week. Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was performed using the formula. TNF- α and TGF-β gene expression in kidney tissue was evaluated using Real-Time PCR. Based on the results of the present study, DM+HIIT significantly reduced HOMA-IR compared to the diabetes group (p<0.05). However, the DM+HIIT+TH group did not yield a greater improvement in HOMA-IR than the DM+HIIT group alone. Also, TNF-α and TGF-β genes in the DM+HIIT, DM+TH and DM+HIIT+TH groups showed a significant decrease compared to the diabetes group (p<0.05). In conclusion, our findings provide strong evidence that both interval training and thyme honey supplementation independently ameliorate diabetic nephropathy by downregulating key pro-fibrotic and inflammatory mediators. While the combination therapy was highly effective at suppressing inflammatory genes, it did not provide a synergistic benefit for insulin sensitivity compared to exercise alone. These results suggest that interval exercise is the primary driver of improved insulin sensitivity in this model.