Nutr Res Pract.  2014 Apr;8(2):177-182.

Effects of aged garlic extract and endurance exercise on skeletal muscle FNDC-5 and circulating irisin in high-fat-diet rat models

• Seo DY
• Kwak HB
• Lee SR
• Cho YS
• Song IS
• Kim N
• Bang HS
• Rhee BD
• Ko KS
• Park BJ
• Han J

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Irisin, a newly identified hormone, is associated with energy homeostasis. We investigated whether aged garlic extract (AGE) and exercise training intervention could improve body weight, insulin sensitivity, skeletal muscle fibronectin domain containing protein 5 (FNDC-5) levels, and plasma irisin in high-fat diet (HFD).
MATERIALS/METHODS
Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a ND (normal diet, n = 5) or HFD (n = 28) for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, all rats were divided into 5 groups for the next 4 weeks: ND, (normal diet, n = 5), HFD (high-fat diet, n = 7), HFDA (high-fat diet + aged garlic extract, n = 7), HFDE (high-fat diet + exercise, n = 7), and HFDEA (high-fat diet + exercise + aged garlic extract, n = 7). Exercise groups performed treadmill exercises for 15-60 min, 5 days/week, and AGE groups received AGE (2.86 g/kg, orally injected) for 4 weeks.
RESULTS
Significant decreases in body weight were observed in the ND, HFDE, and HFDEA groups, as compared with the HFD group. Neither intervention affected the masses of the gastrocnemius muscle or liver. There were no significant differences in glucose levels across the groups. The homeostatic model assessments of insulin resistance were significantly higher in the HFD group, as compared with the ND, HFDA, HFDE, and HFDEA groups. However, skeletal muscle FNDC-5 levels and plasma irisin concentrations were unaffected by AGE or exercise in obese rats. AGE supplementation and exercise training did not affect skeletal muscle FNDC-5 or plasma irisin, which are associated with insulin sensitivity in obese rats.
CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that the protection against HFD-induced increases in body fat/weight and insulin resistance that are provided by AGE supplementation and exercise training may not be mediated by the regulation of FNDC-5 or irisin.

Keyword

Myokine; Muscle metabolism; Insulin resistance; Combined treatment

MeSH Terms

Animals
Body Weight
Diet
Diet, High-Fat
Exercise
Fibronectins
Garlic*
Glucose
Homeostasis
Humans
Insulin Resistance
Liver
Male
Models, Animal*
Muscle, Skeletal*
Plasma
Rats*
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Fibronectins
Glucose

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow chart outlining the experimental groups. ND: normal diet, HFD: high-fat diet.

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  Fig. 2 Effects of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention on body weight (A), visceral fat (B), gastrocnemius mass (C), and liver mass (D) in high fat diet rats. After 4 weeks of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention, body weight, visceral fat, gastrocnemius muscle and liver mass were measured following fasting overnight. All values are expressed as mean ± SE. #P < 0.05 vs. HFD, †P < 0.05 vs. HFDA, ND: normal diet (n = 5), HFD: high-fat diet (n = 7), HFDE: high-fat diet + exercise (n = 7), HFDA: high-fat diet + aged garlic extract (n = 7), HFDEA: high-fat diet + exercise + aged garlic extract (n = 7).

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  Fig. 3 Effects of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention on glucose (A), insulin (B), and HOMA-IR (C) in high fat diet rats. After 4 weeks of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention, glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR were measured, following fasting overnight. All values are expressed as mean ± SE. #P < 0.05 vs. HFD, ND: normal diet (n = 5), HFD: high-fat diet (n = 7), HFDE: high-fat diet + exercise (n = 7), HFDA: high-fat diet + aged garlic extract (n = 7), HFDEA: high-fat diet + exercise + aged garlic extract (n = 7).

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  Fig. 4 Effects of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention on irisin (A) and FNDC-5 (B,C) in high fat diet rats. After 4 weeks of AGE supplementation and exercise intervention, plasma irisin was measured following fasting overnight and skeletal muscle FNDC-5 was used by westernblot on the gascronemius. All values are expressed as mean ± SE. *P < 0.05 vs. ND, #P < 0.05 vs. HFD, ND: normal diet (n = 5), HFD: high-fat diet (n = 7), HFDE: high-fat diet + exercise (n = 7), HFDA: high-fat diet + aged garlic extract (n = 7), HFDEA: high-fat diet + exercise + aged garlic extract (n = 7).

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