Effects of aerobic- pilates exercise training on serum levels of liver enzymes and sonography of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease that in case of lack of control can cause fibrosis, cirrhosis, and also damage the cells. Lifestyle changes and increasing of physical activity are the basis of managing this disease. The present study aimed to study the effect of aerobic-pilates exercise training on the serum levels of liver enzymes and the sonography of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. 

In this quasi-experimental study, 20 men with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease were selected by targeted sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The training period was 6 weeks, during this period the experimental group performed aerobic and pilates exercises, 60 to 90 minutes/4 days a week with 60 to 90 and 40 to 70 percent of maximal heart rate, respectively.  Blood samples and sonography were collected 24 hours before and 48 hours after the end of the intervention, to determine the activity of liver enzymes and also the degree of fatty liver respectivley. For statistical analysis the dependent and  independent t-test and Wilcoxon or Man Whitney U were used. All statistical calculations were performed with SPSS software version 21 and a significant level was set as p≤0.05. 

The serum levels of Alanin aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymes significantly decreased (p=0.02, p=0.001, respectively) in the experimental group. Moreover, the disease severity also showed a significant decrease as compared with the control group (p=0.003). 

Performing a combination of aerobic-pilates exercise for 6 weeks and repeating 4 sessions per week has a significant effect on improving fatty liver disease and can be used as a non-pharmacological method.