The Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Levels in Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue and Insulin Resistance in Male Rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of 5 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on TNF-α level in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue in male Wistar rats. Twenty male rats (age: 8 weeks, weight: 190 ± 10 g) were randomly divided into HIIT training and control groups. Training program consisted of high-intensity speed running. Training program was performed for 5 weeks, 5 sessions per week. In the first week, animals completed 6 high-intensity interval bouts in 2 minutes at 37 m/min with 1-min rest intervals. In the second, third, fourth and fifth weeks the number of bouts increased respectively to 7, 9, 10 and 12, and the speed increased respectively to 40, 43, 49, 52 m/min. Seventy-two hours after the last training session, animals was anesthetized with a cocktail of xialyzine and ketamine, and visceral and subcutaneous adipose was removed. ELISA method was used for TNF-α, glucose and insulin measurement. Independent-samples t test was used for data analysis and significance level was set at 0.05. The results indicated that five weeks of HIIT training caused significant decreases in visceral and subcutaneous levels of TNF-α and plasma insulin (P 0.001) as well as insulin resistance (P