Prior Endurance Training Enhances Beta-Adrenergic Signaling in Epidydimal Adipose from Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

Adipose tissue beta-adrenergic signaling is attenuated in obesity and insulin resistance. It has been previously demonstrated that prior exercise training protects against short-term, high-fat diet (HFD)-induced weight gain and glucose intolerance. This study aimed to determine whether prior exercise training results in altered beta-adrenergic and lipolytic signaling in adipose tissue when challenged with a HFD.

Male C57BL/6J mice underwent 4 weeks of treadmill training (1 h/d, 5 d/wk). Twenty-four hours after the final bout of exercise, mice were fed a HFD (60% kcal lard) for 4 days.

Serum fatty acids, beta-adrenergic signaling (phosphorylated ERK, hormone-sensitive lipase, and p38), and perilipin 1 content were greater in epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) from previously trained mice. These changes were not evident in eWAT from trained mice prior to the HFD and were not secondary to alterations in insulin responsiveness or catecholamine concentrations. CL 316,243-mediated increases in hormone-sensitive lipase phosphorylation and fatty acid accumulation in the media were greater in adipose tissue explants from previously trained mice fed a HFD.

These findings suggest that previous training increases adipose tissue beta-adrenergic responsiveness to a short-term HFD. This may help to explain the protective effect of prior exercise training against the deleterious effects of a HFD.