EXERCISE PROMOTES THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF POMEGRANATE PEEL EXTRACT ON LIVER DYSFUNCTION IN RATS FED A HIGH-FAT DIET

Obesity is one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. Physical activities and life style intervention are considered the best prevention strategies. Recently, we reported that pomegranate extract containing 40% punicalagin could significantly prevent high-fat diet induced obesity. In the present study, we reported that the combination of pomegranate and exercise showed additive benefits on liver function. After 8 weeks of feeding and treatment, pomegranate or exercise only showed trends for decreasing liver weight and liver function markers aspartate aminotransferase and alanine transaminase, whereas the combination group showed more significant reductions compared with either pomegranate or exercise group. Liver tissue analyses revealed that the combination group showed more significant effects on decreasing the liver triglyceride contents, increasing the protein expression of mitochondrial complex I, II, and III, cellular ATP and reactive oxygen species levels and reducing the liver malondialdehyde levels. Additionally, the combination was more effective on decreasing serum insulin and increasing HDL-cholesterol Taken together, our study indicates that exercise promotes the beneficial effects of pomegranate on high-fat diet induced liver dysfunction and that the combination of both could be an effective strategy for improving metabolic health.