Ladder-Climbing Training Prevents Bone Loss and Microarchitecture Deterioration in Diet-Induced Obese Rats

Resistance exercise has been proved to be effective in improving bone quality in both animal and human studies. However, the issue about whether resistance exercise can inhibit obesity-induced bone loss has not been previously investigated. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of ladder-climbing training, one of the resistance exercises, on bone mechanical properties and microarchitecture in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obese rats. Twenty-four rats were randomly assigned to the Control, HF + sedentary (HF-S) and HF + ladder-climbing training (HF-LCT) groups. Rats in the HF-LCT group performed ladder-climbing training for 8 weeks. The results showed that ladder-climbing training significantly reduced body and fat weight, and increased muscle mass along with a trend toward enhanced muscle strength in diet-induced obese rats. MicroCT analysis demonstrated that obesity-induced bone loss and architecture deterioration were significantly mitigated by ladder-climbing training, as evidenced by increased trabecular bone mineral density, bone volume over total volume, trabecular number and thickness, and decreased trabecular separation and structure model index. However, neither HF diet nor ladder-climbing training had an impact on femoral biomechanical properties. Moreover, ladder-climbing training significantly increased serum adiponectin, decreased serum leptin, TNF-α, IL-6 levels, and downregulated myostatin (MSTN) expression in diet-induced obese rats. Taken together, ladder-climbing training prevents bone loss and microarchitecture deterioration in diet-induced obese rats through multiple mechanisms including increasing mechanical loading on bone due to improved skeletal muscle mass and strength, regulating the levels of myokines and adipokines, and suppressing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. It indicates that resistance exercise may be a promising therapy for treating obesity-induced bone loss.