Aerobic exercise training prevents kidney lipid deposition in mice fed a cafeteria diet

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of aerobic exercise training (AET) to prevent kidney lipid accumulation and the contribution of renal metabolism to mediate this response.

Male C57BL/6J mice were assigned into groups CHOW-SED (chow diet, sedentary; n = 13), CHOW-TR (chow diet, trained; n = 13), CAF-SED (cafeteria diet, sedentary; n = 13) and CAF-TR (cafeteria diet, trained; n = 13). AET consisted in running sessions of 60 min at 60% of maximal speed conducted five days per week for eight weeks.

AET prevented weight gain in both trained groups. Food intake was not different among groups, however water intake, urine output, urine potassium and osmolarity were reduced in CAF-SED and CAF-TR groups. Kidney lipid deposition increased in CAF-SED (4.12 ± 0.5%/area) compared with CHOW-SED (1.7 ± 0.54%/area), and the AET prevented this increase in the CAF-TR group (2.1 ± 0.5%/area). The Bowman's capsule area decreased in CAF-SED and CAF-TR groups while the Bowman' space reduced in CAF-SED compared to CHOW-SED group, which was prevented by AET in the CAF-TF group. We observed a 27% increase in the p-AMPK expression in CAF-TR compared to CHOW-SED group without differences in the SIRT-1, PGC1-α, ACC and p-ACC. β-HAD activity increased in CAF-SED (43.9 ± 4.57 nmol·min-1·ug-1) and CAF-TR (44.7 ± 2.6 nmol·min-1·ug-1) groups compared to CHOW-SED (35.1 ± 2.9 nmol·min-1·ug-1) e CHOW-TR (36.6 ± 2.7 nmol·min-1·ug-1).

AET prevented kidney lipid accumulation induced by cafeteria diet and this response was not associated with changes in the renal metabolic activity that favors lipid oxidation.