Regular exercise potentiates energetically expensive hepatic de novo lipogenesis during early weight regain

Exercise is a potent facilitator of long-term weight loss maintenance (WLM), whereby it decreases appetite and increases energy expenditure beyond the cost of the exercise bout. We have previously shown that exercise may amplify energy expenditure through energetically expensive nutrient deposition. Therefore, we investigated the effect of exercise on hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) during WLM and relapse to obesity. Obese rats were calorically restricted with (EX) or without (SED) treadmill exercise (1 h/day, 6 days/wk, 15 m/min) to induce and maintain weight loss. After 6 wk of WLM, subsets of WLM-SED and WLM-EX rats were allowed ad libitum access to food for 1 day to promote relapse (REL). An energy gap-matched group of sedentary, relapsing rats (REL-GM) were provided a diet matched to the positive energy imbalance of the REL-EX rats. During relapse, exercise increased enrichment of hepatic DN-derived lipids and induced hepatic molecular adaptations favoring DNL compared with the gap-matched controls. In the liver, compared with both REL-SED and REL-GM rats, REL-EX rats had lower hepatic expression of genes required for cholesterol biosynthesis; greater hepatic expression of genes that mediate very low-density lipoprotein synthesis and secretion; and greater mRNA expression of Cyp27a1, which encodes an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of bile acids. Altogether, these data provide compelling evidence that the liver has an active role in exercise-mediated potentiation of energy expenditure during early relapse.