Effects of Cornus mas extract combined with aerobic and resistance exercise on blood metabolic parameters and liver enzymes of obese rats

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose was to investigate the effects of six weeks of resistance or aerobic exercise combined with the intake of Cornus mas extract on the lipid profile, metabolic parameters, and liver enzymes of obese rats. Methods: 49 male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups: 1) healthy control (n = 7); 2) hypercaloric fatty-food-based diet (n = 7); 3) aerobic exercise (AE, n = 7); 4) resistance exercise (RE, n = 7); 5) Cornus mas extract intake (C, n = 7); 6) Cornus mas combined with aerobic exercise (CAE, n = 7); and 7) Cornus mas combined with resistance exercise (CRE, n = 7). All the rats (except the controls) were induced fatty liver by six weeks of a hypercaloric diet before the intervention. After the six-week intervention, blood samples were taken to obtain levels of triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), cholesterol, glucose, c-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, and urea. A one-way ANOVA or the Kruskal Wallis tests for the non-normally distributed variables, with post-hoc pairwise comparisons, assessed differences between groups. Results: All the intervention groups significantly (p < .05) improved the parameters compared to the hypercaloric group in almost all the assessed parameters, reaching in many cases significantly better values than the healthy group (control). Adding the Cornus supplementation to the exercise resulted in slightly non-significant better values. Conclusion: Cornus mas extract and aerobic or resistance training may be helpful to treat fatty liver and also reduce the lipid profile levels.