The effect of aerobic exercise followed by footshock electrical stimulation on the expression of hepatokines Fetuin-A and FGF21 in the liver tissue of obese rats with calorie restriction

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license

Authors

1 Department of Exercise Physiology, Maha.C., Islamic Azad University, Mahallat, Iran.

2 Department of Exercise Physiology, Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is associated with the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which involves the accumulation of fat in the liver and can lead to inflammation and liver fibrosis. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise followed by footshock electrical stimulation on the expression of the hepatokines Fet-A and FGF21 in the liver tissue of calorie-restricted obese rats. Methods: In this experimental study, with a control group of 35 male Wistar rats (8 weeks old, weighing 200±19g), after induction of obesity and weight gain, randomly divided into 5 groups of 7: control, fasting-obese, fasting-endurance exercise, fasting-electrical stimulation and Fasting-endurance training-electrical stimulation were divided. Intervention groups for a period of 4 weeks under endurance sports activity (with a speed of 10 to 20 m/min ), electrical stimulation (0.5 mA and 20 minutes) and fasting (8 to 16 hours) were placed. After exercise and anesthesia, brain tissue sampling was done and after molecular processes, gene expression was measured using Real time-PCR machine. For data analysis, two-way analysis of variance test was used at a significance level of p<0.05 and GraphPad software. Results: The results showed that endurance training resulted in a significant increase in the expression of Fet-A genes and a significant decrease in FGF21 in fasted obese rats compared to the control group (P=0.0001). Also, endurance training with stimulation also resulted in a significant increase and decrease in the values of Fet-A and FGF21 genes (P=0.0001). On the other hand, electrical stimulation showed a significant increase in both genes compared to the control group (P=0.0001). Conclusion: It seems that endurance training and electrical stimulation during fasting, by regulating the hepatokines studied in the above research, leads to a reduction in liver damage caused by obesity and their physical health.

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Journal of Applied Health Studies in Sport Physiology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 09 July 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 23 May 2025
  • Revise Date: 21 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 30 June 2025

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