Introduction: Neuropathy is a common form of diabetes side effects that may be alter levels of structural and functional proteins in nervous system. On the other hand, it has been well established that exercise training could enhance this proteins. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of endurance training on Cyclase Associated Protein1 (CAP1) and Growth-Associated Protein-43 (GAP-43) in spinal cord of rats within normal and diabetic neuropathy conditions.
Methodology: Number of 40 male Wistar rats divided randomly in four groups: control group (CO, n:10), diabetic group (DG, n:10), exercise group (EG, n:10) and diabetic exercise group (DE, n:10). Two weeks after Streptozocin (STZ) induction (45 mg/kg), the rats of EG and DE were subjected to treadmill exercise for 5 days a week over 6 weeks. CAP1 and GAP-43 protein contents was measured using immunohistochemistery method.
Results: We observed that CAP1 protein levels were increased only in EG group compared to CO group and other tow groups (P<0.0001; P<0.0001; P<0.0001). In other words, diabetic neuropathy did not alter CAP1 protein levels in spinal cord of diabetic rats (p= 0.456). Endurance training did not cause increase CAP1 protein levels in Diabetic Exercise (DE) group compared to DG and CO groups (respectively, p=0.503; p=0.447). In addition, the endurance training could significantly increase GAP-43 protein levels in healthy trained group (EG) compared with the CO group and other tow groups (P<0.0001; P<0.0001; P<0.0001). Diabetic neuropathy did not alter GAP-43 protein levels in spinal cord of diabetic rats (DG group) when compared to CO group (p= 0.470). Also, endurance training did not cause increase GAP-43 protein levels in Diabetic Exercise (DE) group compared to DG and CO groups (respectively, p=0.657; p=0.794).
Discussion: Present study showed that diabetic neuropathy could not alter CAP1 and GAP-43 protein levels in spinal cord of rats. In addition, endurance training on treadmill causes meaningful increase in spinal cord CAP1 and GAP-43 protein levels of non-diabetic rats, while such an increase does not observe in diabetic exercise group. It seems that increased levels of CAP1 and GAP-43 can be regarded as an effective factor in plasticity and structural changes in neural tissues influenced by exercise training.