Early introduction of exercise prevents insulin resistance in postnatal overfed rats

Early childhood obesity increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases. We examined the early introduction of exercise in small-litter obese-induced rats (SL) on glucose metabolism in the epididymal adipose tissue (AT) and soleus muscle (SM). On day 3 post-birth, pups were divided into groups of ten or three (SL). On day 22, rats were split into sedentary (S and SLS) and exercise (E and SLE) groups. The rats swam three times/week carrying a load for 30 min. In the first week, they swam without a load; in the 2nd week, they carried a load equivalent to 2% of their body weight; from the 3rd week to the final week, they carried a 5% body load. At 85 days of age, an insulin tolerance test was performed in some rats. At 90 days of age, rats were killed, and blood was harvested for plasma glucose, cholesterol, and triacylglycerol measurements. Mesenteric, epididymal, retroperitoneal, and brown adipose tissues were removed and weighed. SM and AT were incubated in the Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, 5.5 mM glucose for 1 h with or without 10 mU/mL insulin. Comparison between the groups was performed by 3-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post-hoc test. Sedentary, overfed rats had greater body mass, more visceral fat, lower lactate production, and insulin resistance. Early introduction of exercise reduced plasma cholesterol and contained the deposition of white adipose tissue and insulin resistance. In conclusion, the early introduction of exercise prevents the effects of obesity on glucose metabolism in adulthood in this rat model.