The effect of 8 weeks of high-intensity interval water training on liver TLR-4 protein and serum TNF-α in male rats with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by high-fat diet

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIT) swimming on TNF-α and TLR4 in rats with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

rats aged 6 to 8 years were randomly divided into healthy (n = 20) and patient (high fat diet (HFD)) (n=20) groups. The HFD lasted for 8 weeks until the rats became infected with NASH. After induction of the disease, the patient group was randomly divided into 2 groups: patient- inactive (n=10), patient-swimming (n=10); Also, the healthy group was divided into two groups: healthy-inactive (n=10) and healthy-swimming group (n=10). The HIIT swimming exercise consisted of 14 20-second swimming sessions with a 10-second break between each session (three days a week for eight weeks). In the intermittent exercise of the load in the first week, the weight was 7% of the body weight of each rat and 1% was added to it every week. TLR4 protein was measured from liver tissue by Western blotting and TNF-α from serum. One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test (p <0.05) were used to determine the differences between the groups.

in healthy-swimming and patient-swimming groups there was a significant decrease in the TNF-α variable compared to the sedentary patient (P=0.001) and in the TLR4 variable in the healthy-swimming group relative to the patient. There was a significant decrease in  inactive (P=0.04) and a non-significant decrease in the patient-swimming group compared to the sedentary patient (P=0.87).

This type of exercise in patients with NASH had a greater effect on TNF-α than TLR-4 and in general, it can be said that HIIT swimming training are useful on the level of liver inflammation in NASH patients.