Effects of six weeks intake berberis vulgaris l, cornus mas, garlic and lemon in combination with aerobic or resistance exercise on the fat metabolism and fatty liver enzymes of rats fed a high cholesterol diet

Resum

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic problem which is among the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 30% of mortality. Previous investigations have demonstrated that mortality from CVD is more than three times higher in obese people than in normal-weight people. Due to these facts, it is necessary to continue the efforts to control obesity and overweight. Medication, health education and diet are the most common ways to manage and control obesity. As well as the implementation of a specific nutritional style along with the practice of physical exercise, are the most traditionally used methods to treat obesity. Physical exercise, represent an effective strategy to prevent and/or treat obesity and cardiovascular disease. The use of Wistar rats is common for the development of extremely rigorous studies in a laboratory environment. Fundamental implications are transferred to human beings derived from the findings obtained with them. This is why they are usually used for numerous types of studies with different purposes: biomedical, toxicological, nutritional, physical exercise, etc. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of some herbal extract such as Berberis vulgaris L, cornus mas, Garlic and Lemon in combination with aerobic and/or resistance exercise on the lipid profile, metabolic parameters, and liver enzymes of obese male rats. Taking into account this aim, 6 weeks clinical assay based on a sample composed of 169 male Wistar rats and divided into three studies and 22 groups was carried out. In the first study, the rats received an extract of Berberis vulgaris L in combination with aerobic and resistance exercise, which the animals divided into seven groups: 1) Healthy control (n = 8); 2) hyper-caloric fatty-food-based diet (n = 8); 3) aerobic exercise (AE, n = 8); 4) resistance exercise (RE, n = 8); 5) black berberis vulgaris L extract intake (n = 8); 6) berberis intake combined with aerobic exercise (BAE, n = 8); and 7) berberis intake combined with resistance exercise (BRE, n = 8). In the second study, the rats received an extract of cornus mas in combination with aerobic and resistance exercise, which the animals divided into seven groups: 1) Healthy control (n = 7); 2) hyper-caloric 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). In the third study, the rats received lemon and garlic in combination with aerobic exercise, which the animals divided into eight groups: 1) control following no treatment (n = 8); 2) hyper-caloric fatty-food-based diet (n = 8); 3) aerobic exercise (AE, n = 8); 4) garlic intake (G, n = 8); 5) aerobic exercise with garlic intake (AEG, n = 8); 6) lemon intake (L, n = 8); 7) garlic and lemon (GL, n = 8); 8) garlic, lemon, and aerobic exercise (GLAE, n = 8). For the first and second studies, all the rats (except the controls) were induced fatty liver by six weeks of a hyper-caloric diet before the intervention. After six weeks of intervention, blood samples were taken to obtain cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), glucose of C - reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine (Cr), urea and uric acid (UA). First, the assumption of normality and homogeneity of the dependent variables was verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Levene tests, respectively. After that, a one-way ANOVA or the Kruskal-Wallis tests for the non-normally distributed variables, with post-hoc pair-wise comparisons, were conducted to assess differences between groups. For all the analyses carried out, a confidence level of 95% was accepted (significance of p ≤ 0.05). After analyzing the data and comparing the hyper group with all the experimental groups, in the study I: BAE group obtained the best results in the variables cholesterol (-57.4%), TG (-43.2%), LDL (-67.3%), AST (-77.2%), ALT (-44.5%), CRP (-30.8%). Also, in variables Glucose (-36%), HDL (+45%), Cr (-54.1%) and urea (-38.2%) the best results were obtained in the BRE group. In the study II: AEC group obtained the best results in the variables cholesterol (-43.4%), Glucose (-45%), TG (-48.1%), LDL (-64.7%), and the best results for HDL (+34.9%), AST (-60.5%), ALT (-47.5%), CRP (-33.2%) Cr (-60.4%) and urea (-29.8%) were obtained in REC group. In the study III: GLAR group obtained the best results in all variables cholesterol (-45%), Glucose (-44.3%), TG (-76.2%), HDL (+24%), AST (-46.3%), ALT (-44.7%), CRP (-29.5%) Cr (-51.3%) and urea (-28.3%) and U.A (-51.3) were obtained in the GLAR group. In conclusion, the present study shows that the use of natural herbal medicine such as Berberis vulgaris L, cornus mas, garlic, and lemon in combination with aerobic and/or resistance exercise is a suitable alternative may be helpful to influence the lipid profile, liver enzymes, and other blood parameters associated with cardiovascular disease.