The prevention of cardiometabolic risk factors is associated with the improvement in aerobic capacity

Abstract

Physical inactivity reduces aerobic capacity and is directly associated with an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors. Here we investigated whether there is an association between increased aerobic capacity and the prevention of obesity and insulin resistance through aerobic exercise training (AET). Adult male C57BL6/J mice were assigned into chow‐fed controls (C, n=10), cafeteria diet (CAF, n=8), chow‐fed trained (T, n=9), and cafeteria diet plus trained (CAFT, n=8) groups. AET was performed simultaneously with diet and consisted of 8‐wk running session of 60 min at 60% of maximal speed, 5 days/wk. Experimental procedures were approved by Ethics Committee from School of Arts, Science and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (#001/2016). Both trained groups showed lower body weight at the end of protocol compared to C and CAF groups. However, only CAFT group had reduced body weight gain compared to the CAF group. Cafeteria diet induced glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in the CAF group, which was counteracted by AET in CAFT group. Indirect calorimetry measurement at rest revealed no difference in the variables oxygen uptake (VO2), carbon dioxide expiration (VCO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), energy expenditure (EE), carbohydrate and fat oxidation among groups. During maximal exercise tests, T and CAFT groups showed an increase in VO2máx (13% and 9.2%, p=0.07) and VO2peak (11.3% and 8.6%, p=0.07) compared to C and CAF, respectively. However no differences among groups were found for RER and rate of substrate oxidation. AET increased the time to exhaustion and maximal velocity in the T compared to C and CAF groups, and in the CAFT compared to CAF. The exercise intensity corresponding to the VO2máx (iVO2) was higher in the T group (2.30 ± 0.42 km⁄h) compared to C (1.86 ± 0.41 km/h) and CAF (1.73 ± 0.17 km/h) groups, and in the CAFT (2.23 ± 0.11 km/h) compared to CAF. Both trained groups showed late anaerobic threshold, improved the relative cost of running, and higher activity of citrate synthase and β‐HAD enzymes in the soleus muscle compared to C and CAF groups. In conclusion, these results revealed that the prevention of obesity and insulin resistance is associated with the improvement in aerobic capacity induced by AET.Support or Funding InformationFinancial Support: FAPESP # 2015/04948‐4; 2016/20659‐5.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.