Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We recently reported that an 8-week high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis was completely prevented if an exercise training programme was introduced and pursued concurrently with the diet. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which introducing exercise training at mid-point in the course of a 16-week high-fat diet regimen contributes to the reversal of liver lipid infiltration and the reduction of blood lipid profile deterioration and body fat accumulation.
DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Two groups of rats were fed a high-fat diet (42% kcal) for 16 weeks, one remaining sedentary during this entire period (HF-Sed) and the other being exercise trained for the last 8 weeks (HF-Tr). A third group was fed a standard diet and remained sedentary for all 16 weeks (SD-Sed). Training (5 days/week for 8 weeks) began 8 weeks after introducing the high-fat diet and consisted of treadmill running that was progressively increased to reach 60 min at 26 m/min, 10% grade, for the last 4 weeks.
MEASUREMENTS: Various parameters including liver lipid infiltration, fat depots and blood lipids.
RESULTS: Unexpectedly, liver lipid infiltration was not significantly higher in HF-Sed than in SD-Sed rats (means±s.e.: 14.9±1.7 vs 12.3±0.4 mg/g; P>0.05). High-fat compared to age-matched standard fed rats also showed an absence of difference (P>0.05) in the weight of total visceral fat pads (13%), plasma nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), and leptin concentrations, but depicted significantly (P<0.01) higher values for subcutaneous fat pad weight and plasma triacyglycerol. Exercise training largely decreased visceral and subcutaneous fat accumulation by 30 and 26%, respectively (P<0.01) as well as NEFA, triacylglycerol, and leptin concentrations (P<0.01).
CONCLUSION: Liver lipid infiltration does not seem to progress linearly over 16 weeks of high-fat feeding in light of what has previously been observed after 8 weeks of high-fat feeding. Introducing a training programme in the course of a 16-week high-fat diet protocol reduced adiposity, plasma NEFA, and leptin concentrations below the levels observed in standard fed rats. These data indicate that, exercise training, whether conducted concurrently or introduced during the course of a high-fat diet, is an asset to reduce the deleterious effects of a high-fat diet.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kraegen EW, Clark PW, Jenkins AB, Daley EA, Chisholm DJ, Storlien LH . Development of muscle insulin resistance after liver insulin resistance in high-fat-fed rats. Diabetes 1991; 40: 1397–1403.
Ghibaudi L, Cook J, Farley C, van Heek M, Hwa JJ . Fat intake affects adiposity, comorbidity factors, and energy metabolism of Sprague–Dawley rats. Obes Res 2002; 10: 956–963.
Satia-Abouta J, Patterson RE, Schiller RN, Kristal AR . Energy from fat is associated with obesity in US men: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Prev Med 2002; 34: 493–501.
Seppala-Lindroos A, Vehkavaara S, Hakkinen AM, Goto T, Westerbacka J, Sovijarvi A, Halavaara J, Yki-Jarvinen H . Fat accumulation in the liver is associated with defects in insulin suppression of glucose production and serum free fatty acids independent of obesity in normal men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2002; 87: 3023–3028.
Kim JK, Gavrilova O, Chen Y, Reitman ML, Shulman GI . Mechanism of insulin resistance in A-ZIP/F-1 fatless mice. J Biol Chem 2000; 275: 8456–8460.
Reue K, Xu P, Wang XP, Slavin BG . Adipose tissue deficiency, glucose intolerance, and increased atherosclerosis result from mutation in the mouse fatty liver dystrophy (fld) gene. J Lipid Res 2000; 41: 1067–1076.
Marceau P, Biron S, Hould FS, Marceau S, Simard S, Thung SN, Kral JG . Liver pathology and the metabolic syndrome X in severe obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999; 84: 1513–1517.
Saltiel AR, Kahn CR . Insulin signalling and the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. Nature 2001; 414: 799–806.
Bell RR, Spencer MJ, Sherriff JL . Voluntary exercise and monounsaturated canola oil reduce fat gain in mice fed diets high in fat. J Nutr 1997; 127: 2006–2010.
Kraegen EW, Storlien LH, Jenkins AB, James DE . Chronic exercise compensates for insulin resistance induced by a high-fat diet in rats. Am J Physiol 1989; 256: E242–E249.
Kitakoshi K, Oshida Y, Nakai N, Han YQ, Sato Y . Effects of troglitazone and voluntary running on insulin resistance induced high fat diet in the rat. Horm Metab Res 2001; 33: 365–369.
Gauthier MS, Couturier K, Latour JG, Lavoie JM . Concurrent exercise prevents high-fat-diet-induced macrovesicular hepatic steatosis. J Appl Physiol 2003; 94: 2127–2134.
Narayan KA, McMullen JJ, Butler DP, Wakefield T, Calhoun WK . Effect of exercise on tissue lipids and serum lipoproteins of rats fed two levels of fat. J Nutr 1975; 105: 581–587.
Rothfeld B, Levine A, Varady A, Loken S, Karmen A . The effect of exercise on lipid deposition in the rat. Biochem Med 1977; 18: 206–209.
Terao T, Fujise T, Nakano S . Effects of long-term exercise and high-cholesterol diet on lipid-lipoprotein metabolism in rats. Tokai J Exp Clin Med 1987; 12: 243–251.
Straczkowski M, Kowalska I, Dzienis-Straczkowska S, Kinalski M, Gorski J, Kinalska I . The effect of exercise training on glucose tolerance and skeletal muscle triacylglycerol content in rats fed with a high-fat diet. Diabetes Metab 2001; 27: 19–23.
Krotkiewski M, Bjorntorp P . The effect of progesterone and of insulin administration on regional adipose tissue cellularity in the rat. Acta Physiol Scand 1976; 96: 122–127.
Frayn KN, Maycock PF . Skeletal muscle triacylglycerol in the rat: methods for sampling and measurement, and studies of biological variability. J Lipid Res 1980; 21: 139–144.
Frayn KN . Adipose tissue as a buffer for daily lipid flux. Diabetologia 2002; 45: 1201–1210.
Chalkley SM, Hettiarachchi M, Chisholm DJ, Kraegen EW . Long-term high-fat feeding leads to severe insulin resistance but not diabetes in Wistar rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002; 282: E1231–E1238.
Pellizzon M, Buison A, Ordiz Jr F, Santa Ana L, Jen KL . Effects of dietary fatty acids and exercise on body-weight regulation and metabolism in rats. Obes Res 2002; 10: 947–955.
Schrauwen P, Westerterp KR . The role of high-fat diets and physical activity in the regulation of body weight. Br J Nutr 2000; 84: 417–427.
Tiikkainen M, Bergholm R, Vehkavaara S, Rissanen A, Hakkinen AM, Tamminen M, Teramo K, Yki-Jarvinen H . Effects of identical weight loss on body composition and features of insulin resistance in obese women with high and low liver fat content. Diabetes 2003; 52: 701–707.
Barnard RJ, Roberts CK, Varon SM, Berger JJ . Diet-induced insulin resistance precedes other aspects of the metabolic syndrome. J Appl Physiol 1998; 84: 1311–1315.
Burt AD, MacSween RNM, Peters TJ, Simpson KJ . Non-alcoholic fatty liver: causes and complications. In: McIntyre N (ed). Oxford textbook of clinical hepatology. Oxford University Press: New York; 1991. pp: 865–871.
Hecht Y, Chevrel B . Les stéatoses hépatiques. Paris: Baillière, J.-B.; 1975. p. 126.
Helge JW, Watt PW, Richter EA, Rennie MJ, Kiens B . Fat utilization during exercise: adaptation to a fat-rich diet increases utilization of plasma fatty acids and very low density lipoprotein-triacylglycerol in humans. J Physiol 2001; 537: 1009–1020.
Reseland JE, Anderssen SA, Solvoll K, Hjermann I, Urdal P, Holme I, Drevon CA . Effect of long-term changes in diet and exercise on plasma leptin concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr 2001; 73: 240–245.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gauthier, MS., Couturier, K., Charbonneau, A. et al. Effects of introducing physical training in the course of a 16-week high-fat diet regimen on hepatic steatosis, adipose tissue fat accumulation, and plasma lipid profile. Int J Obes 28, 1064–1071 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802628
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802628
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Effects of physical activity upon the liver
European Journal of Applied Physiology (2015)
-
IL-15 expression increased in response to treadmill running and inhibited endoplasmic reticulum stress in skeletal muscle in rats
Endocrine (2015)
-
Treadmill exercise promotes interleukin 15 expression in skeletal muscle and interleukin 15 receptor alpha expression in adipose tissue of high-fat diet rats
Endocrine (2013)
-
Resistance training restores the gene expression of molecules related to fat oxidation and lipogenesis in the liver of ovariectomized rats
European Journal of Applied Physiology (2012)
-
Endurance exercise is a leptin signaling mimetic in hypothalamus of Wistar rats
Lipids in Health and Disease (2011)