Effect of Aerobic Physical Activity While Fasting on Liver Lipophagy-Related Factors (ULK1 and LC3-II) in Male Wistar Rats

ULK1 and LC3-II are factors related to liver lipophagy. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of four weeks of aerobic training in fasting state on factors related to liver lipophagy (ULK1 and LC3-II) in male Wistar rats.

In this experimental research, 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the following groups: control, fasting, 3 days of training, 5 days of training, fasting + 3 days of training, and fasting + 5 days of training. Unlike other rats that had 24-hour access to food, the fasting rats received the same amount of nutrition in 10 hours. Continuous aerobic running on a treadmill was performed for 4 weeks with a frequency of 3 and 5 sessions per week in both feeding and fasting conditions. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS using one-way variance analysis test and LSD. Significance level was set at P < 0.05.

The increase of LC3-II in the groups of fasting + 3 days of training and fasting + 5 days training was significant compared to fasting and 3 days training groups (P < 0.05). Also, the increase of ULK1 in the groups of 3 days of training and fasting + 3 days of training was significant compared to the fasting group, and the changes of ULK1 were significantly higher in fasting + 3 days of training group than in the fasting + 5 days training group (P < 0.05).

It can be said that aerobic training in fasting mode increases liver lipophagy and the expression of ULK1 and LC3-II genes is different compared to the amount of weekly activity.