It was hypothesized that 1) exposure to mild IHI (0.15 FiO2) for four weeks would result in beneficial effects on glycaemia control and insulin sensitivity; 2) the IHI would cause an increase of GLUT4 translocation and Akt activity; and 3) exercise in hypoxia could induce additive effect as compared to IHI alone or exercise in normoxia, in mice with type 2 diabetes. Here, AKT1 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.