Background and aims: Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is a major public health concern. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of resistance training and cannabis extract supplementation on the expression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway genes in the pancreas of obese male rats. Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats (twelve weeks old and weighing 180–200 g) were chosen for examination. The animals were randomly assigned to healthy control, obese control, supplement, exercise, and exercise+supplement groups (n=6 per group). The exercise protocol involved ladder climbing on a custom-built rodent apparatus set at an 80° incline, measuring 110 cm in height with 2 cm-spaced rungs. The supplement, initially in solid form, was dissolved in distilled water and orally administered via gavage at a dose of 4 mg/kg body weight, five times a week for eight weeks. The data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test to assess group differences (P<0.05). Results: Obesity significantly decreased mTOR (P=0.001), PI3K (P=0.001), and AKT (P=0.001) expression. Resistance training significantly increased all three (P=0.001), while cannabis alone elevated PI3K (P=0.006) and AKT (P=0.001) but not mTOR. Combined treatment significantly restored mTOR, PI3K, and AKT levels close to those of healthy controls (P=0.001). Conclusion: The results revealed that obesity reduced the expression of AKT, PI3K, and mTOR in the pancreas of obese rats. However, resistance training and cannabis administration increased their expression levels.
Abdi et al. (Mon,) studied this question.