The effect of high intensity interval training with Portulaca Oleracea supplementation on FXR and SREBP-1c in the liver tissue of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

  Physical activity and the use of medicinal supplements are one of the treatment strategies for managing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of high intensity interval training (HIIT) along with Portulaca Oleracea supplement on FXR and SREBP-1c in the liver tissue of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver.

In this experimental study, 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: healthy control (n=5), fatty liver control (n=5), Portulaca Oleracea supplement (n=5), HIIT (n=5) and HIIT + Portulaca Oleracea supplement (n=5). Nonalcoholic fatty liver was induced with 12 weeks of high-fat diet. Portulaca Oleracea supplement was applied daily and HIIT training for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week in the respective groups. The amounts of FXR and SREBP-1c in liver tissue were measured by sandwich ELISA method. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.

 After 8 weeks of HIIT and Portulaca Oleracea supplementation, there was a significant difference in FXR (p=0.028) and SREBP-1c (p=0.005) values between the study groups. The results of the post hoc test showed that the SREBP-1c levels in the fatty liver control group were significantly higher than the healthy control group(p=0.012). SREBP-1c values were significantly lower in the HIIT + Portulaca Oleracea supplement group (p=0.006) and the exercise group (p=0.049) compared to the fatty liver control. FXR values in the fatty liver control group were significantly lower than the healthy control group(p=0.027). There was no significant difference in FXR values in the groups of HIIT + Portulaca Oleracea supplement (p=0.462), HIIT (p=0.958) and Portulaca Oleracea supplement (p=0.988) compared to the fatty liver control.

HIIT with Portulaca Oleracea supplementation may be effective in improving non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by modulating some liver lipogenesis regulation pathways, including reducing SREBP-1c activity in liver tissue.