Effects of time-restricted feeding combined with physical exercise in the treatment of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease of obese mice

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver, is estimated to be the most common liver disease worldwide. Being that obesity is an important risk factor and contributor to the development of NAFLD and, therefore, weight reduction can improve this disease. Previous studies in preclinical models of diet-induced obesity and fatty liver disease have shown the independent benefits of exercise training and time-restricted feeding (TRF) in preventing weight gain and hepatic fat accumulation. Here, we are proposing to test the combined effect of TRF and physical exercise on obesity and NAFLD in obese mice induced by the ingestion of a high-fat diet. The TRF will consist of 12 hours of food access in the active phase, while the exercise training protocol will be aerobic, resistance, or combined (aerobic + resistance), with four weekly sessions applied at the end of the mice's light cycle. Thus, TRF will be evaluated separately and combined with these different exercise training protocols. Analyzes related to body mass, physiological, histological, and molecular will be performed during and at the end of the experiment. In the end, it will be possible to know the effects of TRF alone and combined with different exercise training protocols on obesity and lipid accumulation in the liver of obese mice. Furthermore, the results obtained may reveal whether the effects of TRA combined with exercise training protocols exert agonist, complementary or antagonistic actions on obesity and NAFLD.