Interaction between high-intensity interval training and high-protein diet on gut microbiota composition and body weight in obese male rats

Diet and exercise are two critical factors that regulate gut microbiota, affecting weight management. The present study investigated the effect of 10 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and a high-protein diet (HPD) on gut microbiota composition and body weight changes in obese male Wistar rats. Forty obese rats were randomly divided into five groups, including HPD, HIIT + HPD, HIIT + high-fat diet (HFD) (continuing HFD during intervention), obese control 1 (continuing HFD during intervention), obese control 2 (cutting off HFD at the beginning of the intervention and continuing standard diet), and eight non-obese Wistar rats as a non-obese control (NOC) group (standard diet). Microbial community composition and diversity analysis by sequencing 16S rRNA genes derived from the fecal samples, body weight, and Lee index were assessed. The body weight and Lee index in the NOC, HIIT + HFD, HPD, and HIIT + HPD groups were significantly lower than that in the OC1 and OC2 groups along with the lower body weight and Lee index in the HPD and HIIT + HPD groups compared with the HIIT + HFD group. Also, HFD consumption and switching from HFD to a standard diet or HPD increased gut microbiota dysbiosis. Furthermore, HIIT along with HFD increased the adverse effects of HFD on gut microbiota, while the HIIT + HPD increased microbial richness, improved gut microbiota dysbiosis, and changed rats' phenotype to lean. It appears that HFD discontinuation without doing HIIT does not improve gut microbiota dysbiosis. Also, the HIIT + HFD, HPD, and HIIT + HPD slow down HFD-induced weight gain, but HIIT + HPD is a more reliable strategy for weight management due to its beneficial effects on gut microbiota composition.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) alleviated NAFLD feature via miR-122 induction in liver of high-fat high-fructose diet induced diabetic rats

Background: Exercise intervention is strongly recommended to manage metabolic diseases. In this study, we investigate, whether HIIT and CET can induce hepatic miR-122 expression, NAFLD rats with diabetes.Methods: 40 Wistar rats divided into 2 groups, non-diabetic (NDC) and diabetic .Type 2 diabetes was induced by high-fat high-fructose diet (HFHFD). Then diabetic rats were subdivided into three groups: diabetic control (HFHFD + DC), CET (HFHFD + CET), and HIIT (HFHFD + HIIT). After eight weeks of exercise on a rodent treadmill, we measured miR-122 and its target genes expression in the liver of rats.Results: HIIT decreased the expression of FAS, ACC, SREBP-1c compared with HFHFD + DC (p = .004, p = .032, p = .043, respectively), and could partially increase miR-122 expression as compared with HFHFD + DC (26.8%, p = .68).Conclusions: Exercise training could be a non-pharmacological intervention for improvement of NAFLD of diabetic rats by induction of miR-122. HIIT had a greater effect on NAFLD amelioration than CET.