en Musculoskeletal Physiology/Pharmacology Musculoskeletal Physiology/Pharmacology Experimental research article Experimental research article <p><span style="line-height:1.5;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong>Introduction: </strong>Sports activity increases PGC1&alpha; and Nrf2, the regulatory factors of mitochondrial biogenesis. This paper aims to study the impact of two-month sodium citrate supplementation with Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) on PGC-1&alpha; and Nrf2 expression in diabetic rats.<br /> <strong>Methods:</strong> Forty-five three-month-old male Wistar rats were haphazardly assigned to one of five equal groups (N=9): (1) healthy; (2) diabetic; (3) diabetes + exercise (DE); (4) diabetes+ supplementation (DS); and (5) diabetic + exercise + supplementation (DSE), matched according to their weights. After induction, exercises began on a treadmill for 8 weeks, five days a week. The MICT protocol ran at 70% of their maximum speed for 36 minutes. The rats supplemented with sodium-citrate- at 15 mmol/L in drinking water for two months. PGC-1&alpha; and Nrf2 expression were measured through Western blotting in the soleus muscle. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey post-hoc test. Cohen&rsquo;s D effect size (ES) was calculated to compare the groups.<br /> <strong>Results:</strong> The results showed that induction of diabetes significantly reduced the expression of PGC-1&alpha; (P< 0.001; ES=1.36) and Nrf2 (P<0.088; ES=0.24), while exercise increased PGC-1&alpha; expression (P<0.001; ES=0.68). Sodium citrate supplementation, either alone or in combination with MICT activity, did not show a clear advantage for Nrf2 expression.<br /> <strong>Conclusion: </strong>MICT activity and sodium citrate supplementation, by increasing PGC-1&alpha; expression, can be considered therapeutic strategies for diabetic patients. However, to increase Nrf2 expression, further studies with different exercise intensities and doses of sodium citrate supplementation are needed.</span></span></span></p> <span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black"></span></span></span></span></span></span> Diabetic mellitus, exercise, gene expression, KEAP1 protein, PPARGC1A protein. 157 168 http://ppj.phypha.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2100-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Maghsoud Nabilpour nabilpour@yahoo.com 3200319475328460035741 0000000324204828 No Department of Sports Physiology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Ardabil, Iran Farnaz Seifi-Skishahr f.seify@yahoo.com 3200319475328460035742 000000024065379X Yes Department of Sports Physiology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Ardabil, Iran Ameneh PourRahim amenehpoorrahim@yahoo.com 3200319475328460035743 0000000334485950 No Department of Sports Physiology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Ardabil, Iran Hadi Nobari hadi.nobari1@gmail.com 3200319475328460035744 0000000179518977 No Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain