Simultaneous Effect of Resistance Training and Alpha Lipoic Acid on Beclin-1 Expression and Malondialdehyde Level of Fatty Liver Diabetic Male Rats

Background: Autophagy is a genetically and evolutionarily conserved programmed process that destroys long-lived cellular proteins and organelles. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of eight weeks of strength training with alpha-lipoic acid supplementation on Becline-1 and malondialdehyde concentrations in elderly diabetic rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 35 old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (healthy control, diabetic, diabetic + strength training, diabetic + supplement, diabetic + strength training + supplement). At first, the rats became diabetic and had fatty liver. Then strength training program was performed in eight weeks. Alpha-lipoic acid supplement was also injected three days a week. At the end of the training period, tissues were removed, and the expression of Becline-1 was measured by RT-PCR, and malondialdehyde concentration was measured by TBA laboratory method. For data analysis, a one-way analysis variance test was used for between-groups comparison (P < 0.05). Results: The results showed that strength training program and in combination with alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) supplementation significantly reduced Becline-1 (P = 0.001) and malondialdehyde compared to the healthy and diabetic control groups (P = 0.000). Conclusions: Strength exercise combined with ALA supplementation has a significant role in reducing the rate of autophagy and can reduce fatty liver in elderly type 2 diabetic rats.