Resistance training and hawthorn extract ameliorate cognitive deficits in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

It has been shown that diabetic rats display cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of resistance training and natural antioxidants on learning and memory in type 1 diabetic rats. For this purpose, fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: (i) Control (Con, n = 10), (ii) Diabetic (D, n = 10), (iii) Diabetic + Resistance training (DRT, n = 10), (iv) Diabetic + natural antioxidants (DHE, n = 10), and (v) Diabetic + Resistance training+ natural antioxidants (DRH, n = 10). Climbing the ladder for a period of 5 days/week for 10 consecutive weeks was considered as the resistance training model in our study. Natural antioxidants (100 mg/kg per day) were administered to natural antioxidant groups for a period of 10 weeks. Moreover, spatial and passive avoidance learning and memory function were evaluated by Morris Water Maze (MWM) and shuttle box tests. The results showed that, mean of total escape latency decreased 25% (P < 0.0001) in the DRH group compared with the D group in MWM. The percentage of time spent in the target quadrant identically decreased (34%) in the D and DHE groups compared with the Con group (p = 0.001). In this regard, time spent in the dark Compartment (TDC) respectively rose 86% and 95% in the D and DHE groups compared with the Con group (p < 0.05), and decreased 88% in the DRT and DRH groups compared with the D group in the shuttle box test (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we noticed that total antioxidant capacity increase and lipid peroxidation decrease in response to the treatments in the diabetic rats as well. Therefore, the current study indicated that exercise training and natural antioxidants synergistically ameliorated learning and memory deficits in type 1 diabetic rats via reducing oxidative stress. Hence, it may propose a potential role of resistance training and natural antioxidants as an adjuvant therapy for the prevention and treatment of diabetic complications.