To study the effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on the expression of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) of the quadriceps muscles in diabetic rats.

24 type 2 diabetic rats were randomly divided into control group, exercise group and NMES group. The exercise group trained on medium-strength treadmills. The NMES group received electrical stimulation of the quadriceps muscles of the lower limbs. Fasting blood glucose concentration was measured by tail vein blood, insulin concentration and insulin resistance index (IRI) were measured by ELISA, and GLUT4 gene expression was determined by RT-PCR. Anova was used for comparison among groups, and LSD-t test was used for further comparison among two groups.

The blood glucose levels in the exercise group and NMES group were significantly decreased after intervention (P<0.01), and there was no significant change in control group (P>0.05). There was no significant change in insulin level before and after intervention in all groups (t=1.023, 2.283, 1.775, P>0.05), but the IRI was significantly decreased (t=10.216, 6.748, P<0.01) after intervention in the exercise group and NMES group. Before intervention, there was no significant difference in blood glucose level and IRI between the three groups (F=1.138, 1.040; P>0.05). After intervention, the statistical significance of blood glucose level, IRI and GLUT4 mRNA expression levels in the three groups were observed (F=38.415, 9.976, 275.123, P<0.01). After intervention, the blood glucose level and IRI in the exercise group and NMES group were significantly lower than those in control group (P<0.01), and the expression of GLUT4 mRNA in the quadriceps muscle was significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference in blood glucose level and IRI between the exercise group and NMES group (P>0.05), and the expression of GLUT4 mRNA in the quadriceps muscle of the exercise group was significantly higher than that in NMES group (P<0.01).

NMES training can improve insulin resistant to control blood sugar, related with the increase of the expression of GLUT4 mRNA.