Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of exercise physiology, Karaj branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
2
Department of Exercise Physiology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
10.48308/joeppa.2025.239438.1350
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Regulation of autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, lysosomal activity and their relationship with oxidative stress have been proposed as underlying cellular targets in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); today, it seems necessary to investigate the changes resulting from NAFLD therapeutic interventions, especially exercise and dietary modification, on some hepatic markers in autophagy, cellular stress, and lipid metabolism. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of simultaneous intervention of interval aerobic training and mealworm extract on the expression of genes of bound immunoglobulin protein (BIP), C/EBP homolog protein (CHOP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver tissue of mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver.
Materials and Methods: This experimental and applied study was conducted on 25 male Wistar rats, which were divided into five equal groups: 1- healthy, 2- diseased, 3- diseased + supplement, 4- diseased + exercise, 5- diseased + supplement + exercise. To induce NAFLD, the samples were fed a high-fat, cholesterol, and cholic acid diet for 12 weeks, and the healthy group received a standard rodent diet. After ensuring the induction of the disease, a moderate-intensity interval aerobic training protocol was performed, 8 weeks/5 sessions per week of treadmill running for a total of 30 minutes with gradual overload. The Mealworm extract supplement gavage was performed at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight similar to the exercise days. Hepatic expression of BIP and CHOP genes was measured by Real-Time PCR and hepatic MDA and SOD concentrations were measured by Western blotting. The obtained data were analyzed through independent t-tests and two-way analysis of variance at a significance level of P≤0.05.
Results: Based on the findings, in NAFLD model mice, increased hepatic levels of BIP, CHOP, and MDA and decreased SOD levels were observed. Exercise and mealworm extract, each alone and in interaction with each other, resulted in a significant decrease in BIP, CHOP, and MDA levels and a significant increase in SOD in NAFLD mice (P≤0.01). The effect size of exercise was higher than that of supplementation alone or the interaction of exercise and supplementation, only in increasing SOD.
Conclusion: Simultaneous interventions of aerobic interval training along with mealworm extract intake may be effective in the treatment of NAFLD, possibly by reducing hepatic fat accumulation, ER stress, and oxidative stress, and their role in regulating autophagy; further research is needed to clarify the mechanism of the effect of these research interventions on BIP and CHOP genes and their mediating role in regulating autophagy and cellular stress.
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