Skeletal muscle glucose transport in obese Zucker rats after exercise training

Exercise training has been found to reduce the muscle insulin resistance of the obese Zucker rat (fa/fa). The purpose of the present study was to determine whether this reduction in muscle insulin resistance was associated with an improvement in the glucose transport process and if it was fiber-type specific. Rats were randomly assigned to a sedentary or training group. Training consisted of treadmill running at 18 m/min up an 8% grade, 1.5 h/day, 5 days/wk, for 6-8 wk. The rate of muscle glucose transport was assessed in the absence of insulin and in the presence of a physiological (0.15 mU/ml), a submaximal (1.50 mU/ml), and a maximal (15.0 mU/ml) insulin concentration by determining the rate of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3-OMG) accumulation during hindlimb perfusion. The average 3-OMG transport rate of the red gastrocnemii (fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic fibers) was significantly higher in the trained compared with the sedentary obese rats in the absence of insulin and in the presence of the three insulin concentrations. Significant improvements in 3-OMG transport were also observed in the plantarii (mixed fibers) of trained obese rats in the presence of 0, 0.15, and 15.0 mU/ml insulin. Training appeared to have little effect on the insulin-stimulated 3-OMG transport of the soleus (slow-twitch oxidative fibers) or white gastrocnemius (fast-twitch glycolytic fibers). The results suggest that the improvement in the muscle insulin resistance of the obese Zucker rat after moderate endurance training was associated with an improvement in the glucose transport process but that it was fiber-type specific.