A new study found that exercise can help prevent and treat non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD), which is also known as metabolic liver disease. NAFLD is a condition where too much fat builds up in the liver, and it can lead to problems like type 2 diabetes, liver cirrhosis, and heart disease. It can also cause an increased risk of death.
Key findings:
- Exercise can help prevent NAFLD by regulating important enzymes of glucose and fructose degradation in the liver.
- Exercise can help reduce the amount of fat stored in the liver.
- Exercise can improve glucose control and increase the respiratory capacity of the skeletal muscles.
Recommendations:
- To prevent NAFLD, lifestyle modification with increased physical activity is recommended.
- If you have NAFLD, talk to your doctor about how much exercise is right for you.
- Exercise can help improve your overall health and well-being, so it is important to be physically active even if you do not have NAFLD.
The study was done by scientists at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at Tübingen University Hospital and at the Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases. They used mice for their study and fed them a high-energy diet. Some of the mice also received regular treadmill training. After six weeks, the researchers examined the animals’ livers and muscles for changes in the transcriptome, the mitochondrial proteome, lipid composition, and the mitochondrial function.
The results showed that the exercise helped to prevent NAFLD by regulating important enzymes of glucose and fructose degradation in the liver. It also helped to reduce the amount of fat stored in the liver. The researchers also found that exercise improved glucose control and increased the respiratory capacity of the skeletal muscles. This helped to relieve the metabolic stress in the liver.
The study provides a comprehensive insight into the molecular adaptation of the liver and muscles to a high-energy diet, training, and combinatorial effects. The results fit well with the approaches of ongoing clinical studies in which inhibitors are tested against some of the targets found in the study, such as the mitochondrial pyruvate transporter.
The study shows that regular physical activity regulates many targets at the same time, key nodes of metabolic pathways, an effect that cannot be achieved with monotherapy. So, in order to prevent and treat NAFLD, lifestyle modification with increased physical activity is recommended.