Adiponectin associated with changes in metabolic markers of fatty liver disease progression
WEDNESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- A short-term aerobic training program for obese individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) might affect metabolic factors associated with NAFLD, and this change may be mediated by adiponectin, according to a study presented at the Experimental Biology annual meeting, held from April 9 to 13 in Washington, D.C.
Jacob M. Haus, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, and colleagues investigated the effects of short-term aerobic exercise on metabolic risk factors implicated in the development and progression of NAFLD. A total of 15 obese individuals diagnosed with NAFLD participated in a short-term exercise program consisting of 60 minutes a day walking on a treadmill at 85 percent of maximum heart rate, for seven days. Hepatic triglyceride content, lipid saturation index, and polyunsaturated lipid index (PUI) of the liver were measured before and after exercise by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Glucose tolerance was measured by the oral glucose tolerance test, during which the production of reactive oxygen species in mononuclear cells was measured, and glucose, insulin, and adiponectin were measured in the plasma.
The researchers found that exercise resulted in an 84 percent increase in the PUI. There were also increases in insulin sensitivity, high molecular weight adiponectin, and VO2max. The production of reactive oxygen species was reduced following training. Adiponectin changes were significantly associated with changes in the liver PUI.
"These data suggest that exercise alone can augment metabolic risk factors associated with NAFLD progression and that these changes may be driven by adiponectin," the authors write.
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