Metabolism: clinical and experimental
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Physical exercise is frequently recommended for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, whether as primary therapy with diet modification or as an adjunct to drug therapy. We hypothesized that mild exercise would enhance the glucose-lowering effects of 2 oral antihyperglycemic drugs, metformin and acarbose, in an animal model of type 2 diabetes. Eight-week-old male C57BL/Ks (db/db) mice were sorted into control and exercise groups and dosed daily for 4 weeks with vehicle, metformin (150 mg/kg/d), or acarbose (40 mg/kg/d). ⋯ In conclusion, exercise and drug therapy independently decreased serum glucose in db/db mice, and these effects did not appear to be synergistic. In addition, exercise training maintained serum insulin concentrations and increased tissue glycogen storage. These results suggest that exercise has the potential to add to the efficacy of oral antihyperglycemic drugs.