Voluntary wheel running improves adipose tissue immunometabolism in ovariectomized low-fit rats

Loss of ovarian hormones is associated with increased adiposity, white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammation, and insulin resistance (IR). Previous work demonstrated ovariectomized (OVX) rats bred for high aerobic fitness (HCR) are protected against weight gain and IR compared to rats bred for low aerobic fitness (LCR) yet wheel running prevents OVX-induced IR in LCR rats. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adipose tissue immunometabolic characteristics from female HCR and LCR rats differs before or after OVX, and whether wheel running mitigates OVX-induced adipose tissue immunometabolic changes in LCR rats. Female OVX HCR and LCR rats were all fed a high fat diet (HFD) (n = 7-8/group) and randomized to either a running wheel or remain sedentary for 11 weeks. Ovary-intact rats (n = 7-12/group) were fed a standard chow diet with no wheel. Ovary-intact LCR rats had a greater visceral WAT inflammatory profile compared to HCR. Following OVX, sedentary LCR rats had greater serum leptin (p<0.001) and WAT inflammation (p<0.05) than sedentary HCR. Wheel running normalized the elevated serum leptin and reduced both visceral (p<0.05) and subcutaneous (p<0.03) WAT inflammatory markers in the LCR rats. Paradoxically, wheel running increased some markers of WAT inflammation in OVX HCR rats (p<0.05), which correlated with observed weight gain. Taken together, HCR rats appear to have a healthier WAT immune and metabolic profile compared to LCR, even following OVX. Wheel running improves WAT health in previously sedentary LCR rats. On the other hand, increased WAT inflammation is associated with adiposity gain despite a high volume of wheel running in HCR rats.