Effect of Exercise and Quercetin in Rats with Metabolic Syndrome Induced with Fructose

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), one of the most researched topics in recent years, is a metabolic disorder that presents with increased inactivity and has increasing prevalence in the developing world where many ready-made foods are consumed. This research aimed to investigate the protective effect of exercise and quercetin administration in a rat model of MetS induced by fructose. Forty-two male rats were divided into seven groups (n = 6): control (C), fructose (F), exercise (E), quercetin (Q), fructose+exercise (F+E), fructose+quercetin (F+Q), and fructose+quercetin+exercise (F+Q+E). Fructose was given as 20% solution in drinking water, and quercetin (15 mg/kg/day) was administered by oral gavage. Treadmill running exercises were applied 30 min a day for 5 days a week. After the experiments, biochemical assays, Lee index, and body fat mass analyses were measured. Fructose administration caused a statistically significant increase in systolic blood pressures (SBP), triglycerides (TG), VLDL-cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) compared with the control group, and the MetS model was successfully demonstrated (P < 0.05). It was determined that SBP, serum TG, serum insulin, HOMA-IR, and Lee indexes, and body fat mass, were decreased in the F + E group (P < 0.05). In addition, it was found that the MetS-related parameters improved, except lipid profile in the F + Q group (P < 0.05). These results show that high fructose consumption leads to elevated SBP, TG, cholesterol, body fat mass, glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR levels, and aerobic exercise training treatment has beneficial effects on these biochemical parameters in rats. Although quercetin has positive effects on SBP and insulin levels, it was observed to cause a significant increase especially in TG and body fat mass. Therefore, more detailed dose studies and pathways of quercetin are needed to elucidate its mechanism of action in body fat mass.