Protective effect of aerobic training and royal jelly on profibrogenic parameters of liver tissue and insulin resistance in obese rats

Obesity is characterized by several metabolic complications such as increased profibrogenic parameters of liver tissue. Most anti-obesity drugs have liver side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of aerobic training and royal jelly on profibrogenic parameters of liver tissue and insulin resistance in obese rats.

In this experimental study, 45 male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: normal diet (ND), high fat diet (HFD), high fat diet - training (HFDT), high fat diet - royal jelly (HFDRJ) and high fat diet - training - royal jelly (HFDTRJ). The supplement groups received 100 mg of royal jelly (per kg of body weight) diluted in distilled water orally during the intervention period. Aerobic training program including running on treadmill with intensity of 50-60% VO2max was performed 5 days week for eight weeks. The genes expression of Transforming Growth Factor β (TGF-β) and Smad3 were measured by Real Time PCR.

There was significant increase of TGF-β, Smad3 and insulin resistance in HFD, HFDT, HFDRJ and HFDTRJ groups compared to ND group (P=0.001). Also, there was a significant decrease of TGF-β, Smad3 and insulin resistance in HFDT, HFDRJ and HFDTRJ groups compared to HFD group; and HFDTRJ compared to HFDRJ groups (P=0.001).

It seems that the aerobic training with royal jelly can help to decrease of insulin resistance and improve the profibrogenic parameters of liver tissue in obesity caused by high-fat diet.