Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Journal of Eexercise & Organ Cross Talk

The synergistic effect of interval exercise and thyme honey on inflammatory gene downregulation and insulin sensitivity in diabetic nephropathy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Masoumeh Roustaei
Hossein Abednatanzi
Mandana Gholami
Farshad Ghazalian

Department of physical education and sport sciences, SR.C., Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22122/jeoct.2025.546467.1167
Abstract
This study investigated the combined efficacy of interval training and thyme honey in attenuating the expression of inflammatory genes (TNF-α and TGF-β) in renal tissue and improving insulin resistance in diabetic rats. In this experimental study, 32 young male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: diabetes mellitus control (DM), diabetes and interval training (DM+HIIT), diabetes and thyme honey (DM+TH), and diabetes and interval training-thyme honey (DM+HIIT+TH). Animals in the training group underwent 40 sessions of training over two months with a gradual increase in the number of intense intervals from 2 to 8 intervals and an intensity of 80 to 95% of maximum running speed. At the same time, the samples in the TH groups received thyme honey at a rate of g/kg 3 and 5 days per week. Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was performed using the formula. TNF- α  and TGF-β gene expression in kidney tissue was evaluated using Real-Time PCR. Based on the results of the present study, DM+HIIT significantly reduced HOMA-IR compared to the diabetes group (p<0.05). However, the DM+HIIT+TH group did not yield a greater improvement in HOMA-IR than the DM+HIIT group alone. Also, TNF-α and TGF-β genes in the DM+HIIT, DM+TH and DM+HIIT+TH groups showed a significant decrease compared to the diabetes group (p<0.05). In conclusion, our findings provide strong evidence that both interval training and thyme honey supplementation independently ameliorate diabetic nephropathy by downregulating key pro-fibrotic and inflammatory mediators. While the combination therapy was highly effective at suppressing inflammatory genes, it did not provide a synergistic benefit for insulin sensitivity compared to exercise alone. These results suggest that interval exercise is the primary driver of improved insulin sensitivity in this model.

What is already known on this subject?

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease worldwide, significantly contributing to morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients.

 

What this study adds?

Thyme honey demonstrated beneficial effects in reducing renal inflammatory and fibrotic gene expressions, particularly TNF-α and TGF-β. Importantly, the combined intervention of HIIT and thyme honey produced synergistic effects in further suppressing these deleterious renal markers, indicating a tissue-specific effect where renal anti-inflammatory benefits can be achieved even when systemic metabolic improvements are blunted.

Keywords

Interval training
Thyme honey
Kidney
Inflammation
Insulin resistance

Subjects

Acknowledgements

None

Funding

No sources of funding were sought or awarded for this study.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval The rats were purchased from Royan Institute (Tehran, Iran) and after receiving the ethics code IR.SSRC.REC.1404.034 and observing the ethical principles of working with laboratory animals based on the Declaration of Helsinki, they were transferred to the Razi Laboratory Animal House, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research Branch.

Informed consent Animal study.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: M.R, F.Gh,; Methodology: M.Gh, F.Gh,;  Software: H.A,; Validation: M.Gh,; Formal analysis: M.R, F.Gh,; Investigation: H.A,;   Resources: M.Gh, H.A,; Data curation: H.A,; Writing - original draft: M.R, F.Gh,; Writing - review & editing: H.A, M.R, F.Gh,; Visualization: M.Gh, H.A,;  Supervision: H.A,; Project administration: M.R, F.Gh,; Funding acquisition: H.A.  

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Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Volume 5, Issue 2
Spring 2025
Pages 84-90

  • Receive Date 11 April 2025
  • Revise Date 19 June 2025
  • Accept Date 19 June 2025

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