Streptozotocin-induced diabetes and the effects of endurance exercise training.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if endurance exercise training would alter the degenerative effects of streptozotocin diabetes on cardiac function and alter the responses of streptozotocin diabetic rats to induced myocardial ischemia. Diabetic rats experienced a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in cardiac function as evidenced by left ventricular peak systolic pressure (LVPSP), maximal time rate of change of pressure (+dP/dTmax), rate pressure product (RPP), and heart rate (HR). Exercise training apparently reduced the effect of diabetes since the function of non-ischemic hearts from trained diabetic rats was not different from that of non-diabetic rats. It also was not different from the sedentary diabetic rat hearts. Training did not alter the response of the hearts of either group of diabetic rats to induced myocardial ischemia.