Effects of Aerobic Exercise and Resveratrol Supplementation on Plasma Level and Liver Expression of Activin A and Follistatin in a Rats with Nonalcoholic Fatty liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic hepatic disease characterized by fat accumulation inside hepatocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of exercise training and resveratrol supplementation on activin A and follistatin levels in rats with NAFLD under a high-fat diet.

Fifty-six old (40-50 weeks) male Wistar rats were assigned to a healthy control group and seven experimental NAFLD groups: 1. high-fat diet, 2. saline, 3. resveratrol supplementation, 4. continuous exercise, 5. interval exercise, 6. continuous exercise+ resveratrol supplementation and 7. interval exercise+ resveratrol supplementation. Rats in the resveratrol supplementation groups were given 25 mg/kg of body weight intraperitoneal injection of resveratrol daily. Exercises were performed five days a week for eight weeks. Data were analyzed with SPSS (version 21) using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post hoc test at significance of 0.05.

Exercise training and resveratrol supplementation significantly decreased plasma activin A level and increased activin A expression (P<0.05). Plasma level of follistatin was significantly higher in rats under a high-fat diet compared to healthy control animals. All exercise and supplementation groups alone and combined lowered follistatin levels. However, follistatin mRNA expression increased significantly after resveratrol supplementation alone, continuous exercise+ resveratrol supplementation, and interval exercise+ resveratrol supplementation.

Resveratrol has a beneficial effect on activin A and follistatin levels in rats with NAFLD. In addition, resveratrol supplementation combined with exercise training may have greater health benefits for NAFLD patients compared to resveratrol supplementation or exercise training alone.