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. 2022 Oct 22;19(21):13740.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192113740.

Vitamin D and Swimming Exercise Prevent Obesity in Rats under a High-Fat Diet via Targeting FATP4 and TLR4 in the Liver and Adipose Tissue

Eman Kolieb  1 , Shymaa Ahmed Maher  2   3 , Mohammed Nader Shalaby  4 , Amnah Mohammed Alsuhaibani  5 , Afaf Alharthi  6 , Wael A Hassan  7   8 , Karima El-Sayed  1
Affiliations

Vitamin D and Swimming Exercise Prevent Obesity in Rats under a High-Fat Diet via Targeting FATP4 and TLR4 in the Liver and Adipose Tissue

Eman Kolieb et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has risen in the last decades, and it has caused massive health burdens on people's health, especially metabolic and cardiovascular issues. The risk of vitamin D insufficiency is increased by obesity, because adipose tissue alters both the requirements for and bioavailability of vitamin D. Exercise training is acknowledged as having a significant and long-term influence on body weight control; the favorable impact of exercise on obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities has been demonstrated via various mechanisms. The current work illustrated the effects of vitamin D supplementation and exercise on obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and hepatic steatosis in rats and explored how fatty acid transport protein-4 (FATP4) and Toll-like receptor-4 antibodies (TLR4) might be contributing factors to obesity and related hepatic steatosis. Thirty male albino rats were divided into five groups: group 1 was fed a normal-fat diet, group 2 was fed an HFD, group 3 was fed an HFD and given vitamin D supplementation, group 4 was fed an HFD and kept on exercise, and group 5 was fed an HFD, given vitamin D, and kept on exercise. The serum lipid profile adipokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were analyzed, and the pathological changes in adipose and liver tissues were examined. In addition, the messenger-ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of FATP4 and immunohistochemical expression of TLR4 in adipose and liver tissues were evaluated. Vitamin D supplementation and exercise improved HFD-induced weight gain and attenuated hepatic steatosis, along with improving the serum lipid profile, degree of inflammation, and serum adipokine levels. The expression of FATP4 and TLR4 in both adipose tissue and the liver was downregulated; it was noteworthy that the group that received vitamin D and was kept on exercise showed also improvement in the histopathological picture of this group. According to the findings of this research, the protective effect of vitamin D and exercise against obesity and HFD-induced hepatic steatosis is associated with the downregulation of FATP4 and TLR4, as well as a reduction in inflammation.

Keywords: Exercise Physiology; FATP4: (fatty acid transport protein 4); HFD: (high-fat diet); Sports Exercise; Swimming Exercise Vit D: (vitamin D); T2D: (type 2 diabetes); TLR4: (Toll-like receptor 4 antibodies); obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inflammatory markers of the studied groups, including TNF-α and IL-6. Values are expressed as mean ± SD, statistically significant difference, ** p, ## p ˂ 0.01, in comparison to the control group, (#) in comparison to HFD.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Adipokines levels of the studied groups include adiponectin, ghrelin, and leptin. Data expressed as mean ± SD, statistically significant difference, ** p, ## p ˂ 0.01, and # p ˂ 0.05 (*) in comparison to the control group, (#) in comparison to HFD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Insulin levels of the studied groups. Data expressed as mean ± SD, statistically significant difference, ** p, ## p ˂ 0.01 in comparison to the control group, (#) in comparison to HFD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
FATP4 expression level in hepatocytes and adipocytes in the studied groups. Data expressed as mean ± SD, statistically significant difference, ** p, ## p ˂ 0.01, in comparison to the control group, (#) in comparison to HFD.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Histopathological evaluation of liver and adipose tissue sections.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Histopathological evaluation of liver and adipose tissue sections.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Histopathological evaluation of liver and adipose tissue sections.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Level of TLR expression by immunohistochemistry in the studied groups in hepatocytes and adipocytes. Values are expressed as mean ± SD, statistically significant difference, ## p ˂ 0.01, and * p, # p ˂ 0.05 (*) compared to normal control group, (#) compared to HFD. HDF = high fat diet.
Figure 7
Figure 7
TLR expression by immunohistochemistry in the five studied groups in hepatocytes.
Figure 8
Figure 8
TLR expression by immunohistochemistry in the five studied groups in adipocytes.
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