Effect of aerobic training and vitamin D supplements on fatty liver and lipid profiles in women with fatty liver

Backgrond:Fatty liver, which impairs the balance of blood lipids, is one of the most common liver diseases in the present century. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise and vitamin D supplementation on fatty liver and lipid profiles. In this semi-experimental study, conducted in the winter of 1395 in the city of Dehloran, 40 women (weight: 81.5±8.8 and BMI: ≥30) who had Fatty Liver, grades I to III, were randomly divided into aerobic exercise and vitamin D supplement (combined), aerobic training, Vitamin D Supplementation, and control groups (n=10). The exercise groups performed 45 minutes of exercise on treadmill with 60% maximum heart rate for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week. Supplementary groups received 50,000 units of vitamin D every week. Blood samples were used to measure lipid profiles and liver enzymes and ultrasound to measure liver parenchyma in pretest and posttest (48 hours after the latest session of aerobic training). Descriptive statistics were used to determine the mean and standard deviation of each variable and Shapiro-Wilkes test to determine the natural distribution of data. Also, covariance analysis was used to examine the changes between groups. In order to compare the two groups, Bonferron’s post hoc test was used. The hepatic enzymes in the combined group and the aerobic training group were significantly different compared with the control and vitamin D supplementation groups (p<0.05) (ALP=0/001, ALT=0/014, AST=0/000. However, it was not found to be statistically different between combined and aerobic training in the hepatic enzymes. The liver parenchyma was significantly decreased in the combined group compared with other groups (p<0.05) (P=0/000). In addition, Triglyceride and LDL levels decreased significantly in the combined group as compared with other groups (p<0.05) (LDL=0/011, TG=0/015). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the HDL and cholesterol between the groups (p>0.05) (HDL= 0/148, COLE=0/591). Vitamin D supplementation with aerobic exercise can have more effects on the levels of liver enzymes, liver parenchyma, as well as triglyceride and LDL in women with fatty liver. Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Vitamin D; Fatty liver; Liver enzymes; Lipid pr ofiles