Aerobic Exercise Improved Cardiac Inflammation Through Regulate <i>PKR</i>/<i>TLR </i>Pathway in Obese Rat

Obesity is a direct contributor to cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiac failure.

The goal of this study was to examine how aerobic training impacts cardiac biomarkers by analyzing the protein kinase R ( PKR )/toll-like receptor ( TLR ) gene expression in an obesity model induced by a high-fat/fructose diet.

In this study, we used 24 Wistar rats with a weight range of 204 ± 11.3 grams. They were divided into three groups: A standard diet group, a high-fat diet (HFD) with fructose group (60% fat and 25% fructose), and an obese rats group with aerobic exercise. At the end of the study, the Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A (Lp-PLA2), cystatin C, and PKR / TLR gene expression were measured in all groups.

Compared to the control group, the HFD with fructose increased the Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, Lp-PLA2, and cystatin C. The expression levels of TLR (P ≤ 0.001) and PKR (P ≤ 0.01) genes in the cardiac tissue of obese rats were significantly higher than those in the control group. The obese rats showed a significant decrease in PKR gene expression when following the high-fat/fructose diet plus aerobic exercise regimen. However, the obese group did not exhibit a significant difference in TLR4 gene expression compared to the HFD plus aerobic exercise rats.

Based on the data, aerobic exercise was found to affect the PKR / TLR pathway, leading to improved cardiovascular inflammatory biomarkers in obese rats.