Effects of time-restricted feeding and high-intensity interval training on thermogenesis-related protein abundance in white adipose tissue of diabetic rats.

Authors

Ahmad Reza Moein, Mohammad Javad Pourvaghar, Fatemeh Kazeminasab, Maryam Baharlooie, Reza Bagheri, Darryn Willoughby, Fred Dutheil

Published in

Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders. Volume 25. Issue 2. Pages 228. Epub Aug 08, 2026.

Abstract

This study evaluated the independent and combined effects of time-restricted feeding (TRF) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on thermogenesis-related protein abundance in white adipose tissue (WAT) of diabetic rats.
Forty male Wistar rats were divided into normal and diabetic groups (high-fat diet plus streptozotocin). Diabetic rats were randomly allocated into four subgroups: control, TRF, HIIT, and combined TRF+HIIT groups. After a 10-week intervention, the protein abundance of AMPK, PGC-1α, and UCP1 was assessed in WAT. Fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, and adipocyte cross-sectional area were also measured.
Diabetes induction increased blood glucose and adipocyte cross-sectional area while reducing thermogenic proteins. Both TRF and HIIT significantly reduced fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, insulin, and adipocyte cross-sectional area, with no significant difference between the two. AMPK levels increased significantly with TRF (P = 0.001) and combined TRF+HIIT (P = 0.001). PGC-1α abundance was significantly higher in TRF-treated rats (P = 0.002), whereas HIIT showed no significant effect (P = 0.62); no interaction was found for PGC-1α (P = 0.31). UCP1 showed no significant main effect of TRF (P = 0.09) or HIIT (P = 0.07); however, a significant TRF × HIIT interaction was observed (P = 0.02).
TRF and HIIT were associated with improved glycemic outcomes and reduced adipocyte cross-sectional area. They were also associated with changes in thermogenesis-related protein abundance in diabetic WAT, with a statistically significant but context-dependent TRF × HIIT interaction observed for UCP1. These findings provide preliminary protein-level evidence of metabolic adaptations in WAT; however, their functional significance remains to be established.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-026-02032-0.

PMID:
42572539
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Aug 2026.

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