Acceleration training for managing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundWhile aerobic training is generally recommended as therapeutic exercise in guidelines, the effectiveness of resistance training has recently been reported in the management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Acceleration training (AT) is a new training method that provides a physical stimulation effect on skeletal muscles by increasing gravitational acceleration with vibration. AT has recently been indicated as a component of medicine. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of AT in the management of NAFLD in obese subjects.MethodsA total of 18 obese patients with NAFLD who had no improvement in liver function test abnormalities and/or steatosis grade after 12 weeks of lifestyle counseling were enrolled in an AT program. These patients attended a 20-minute session of AT twice a week for 12 consecutive weeks.ResultsDuring the AT program, the NAFLD patients showed a modest increase in the strength (+12.6%) and cross-sectional area (+3.1%) of the quadriceps, coupled with a significant reduction in intramyocellular lipids (−26.4%). Notably, they showed a modest reduction in body weight (−1.9%), abdominal visceral fat area (−3.4%), and hepatic fat content (−8.7%), coupled with a significant reduction in levels of aminotransferase (−15.7%), γ-glutamyltransferase (−14.4%), leptin (−9.7%), interleukin-6 (−26.8%), and tumor necrosis factor-α (−17.9%), and a significant increase of adiponectin (+8.7%). On a health-related quality of life survey, the patients showed an improvement in physical functioning (+17.3%), physical role (+9.7%), general health (+22.1), and social functioning (+6.0%).ConclusionAT reduced hepatic and intramyocellular fat contents and ameliorated liver function test abnormalities in obese patients with NAFLD, which was coupled with improved physical function and body adiposity. AT is clinically beneficial for the management of NAFLD.

The effect of exercise training on intrahepatic triglyceride and hepatic insulin sensitivity: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Eighteen studies reported the effects of exercise training on IHTG (Table ). Only one of these used paired liver biopsy , reporting no significant effect of 6‐month resistance exercise on the percentage of hepatocytes affected by steatosis in individuals with NAFLD.…”

“…Fourteen of the 17 studies reported a statistically significant benefit of exercise on IHTG either within‐group , between‐group or both . In the two studies with multiple exercise groups, exercise elicited a significant reduction in both groups .…”

“…This would, if anything, result in an attenuated pooled effect. Seven studies recorded energy intake by using self-reported food diaries (11,35,(39)(40)(41)(42) or a validated food frequency questionnaire (37). All of these reported no change in energy intake from pre-intervention to post-intervention, although one (41) reported a small increase in carbohydrate intake in participants completing a high-intensity, low-volume exercise programme.…”

Exercise Training as Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…Two tested in NAFLD are acceleration [48] and hybrid training [49]. Acceleration training is a form of Whole-Body Vibration (WBV): energy from an external device is transferred via vibration to the human body at differing frequencies.…”

“…Acceleration training is a form of Whole-Body Vibration (WBV): energy from an external device is transferred via vibration to the human body at differing frequencies. Acceleration training entails "a physical stimulation effect on skeletal muscles by increasing gravitational acceleration with vibration" [48]. Hybrid training is the electrical stimulation of an agonist muscle to one being contracted voluntarily.…”