The Effect of Continuous Aerobic Exercise on Hyperphosphorylated Tau Protein in Diabetic Rats

Background: In neurodegenerative complications, the function and structure of the neurons undergo a change, which eventually cause the death of neurons. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of continuous aerobic exercise on neurodegeneration in diabetic rats. Methods: A total of 84 male Wistar rats were divided into four groups, including: (1) sedentary control (SC), (2) trained control (TC), (3) sedentary diabetic (SD), and (4) trained diabetic (TD). The exercise protocol in this study comprised of 12 weeks, three sessions per week. Results: There was no significant difference in the level of tau protein hyperphosphorylation in four weeks of training (P = 0.128), however, there was a significant difference in the 8th and 12th weeks of training (P = 0.000). In addition, the results showed that there was a significant difference in tau protein hyperphosphorylation in different stages (4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of training) (P = 0.000). Conclusions: It can be concluded that in all three different time periods (4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of training), the levels of tau protein hyperphosphorylation in the control and diabetes groups were more than those in the training, diabetes, and exercise groups. On the other hand, the higher the incidence of diabetes mellitus, and the more time gone (from 4th to 8th and then 12th week), the higher increase in the level of tau hyperphosphorylation occurred, so that continuing aerobic exercise could reduce the amount of this variable.