Effect of endurance training on bile acid synthesis signaling pathway in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver dysfunction and one of the most important causes of death from chronic liver diseases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of eight weeks of endurance training compared to resistance training on liver bile acids (BA), relative expression of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15), fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) and beta protein Klotho (KLB) in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In this experimental study, 16 Wistar rats with an approximate weight of 120-160 grams, after induction of NAFLD conditions, with six weeks of high-fat diet were randomly divided into two equal groups (8 rats in each group), including; Control (C), endurance training (E). group E participated in an incremental treadmill exercise protocol with an intensity of 65% of maximal oxygen consumption and a frequency of 5 sessions per week. 48 hours after the last training session, the subjects were sacrificed and liver tissue and blood samples were taken to evaluate the research variables. Data were analyzed by using independent t-test. The findings showed that E training protocols led to a significant decrease in liver BA values (p = 0.0001). Also, in the E training group, a significant increase in the relative expression of FXR, FGF15, FGFR4 and KLB protein levels  was observed (p = 0.0001). In conclusion, it seems that endurance exercise can have positive effects on the variables involved in the signaling of bile acid synthesis.
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