Carbajo-Pescador, S. et al. Dis. Model Mech. 12, dmm039206 (2019)

To assess the effects of exercise on early obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) onset, juvenile Wistar rats fed a control diet or a high-fat diet (HFD) were split into four subgroups: half of the rats from each diet group remained sedentary and the other half undertook a training protocol. Biochemical analysis and fecal microbiota sequencing of the different groups showed that exercise attenuated HFD-induced metabolic syndrome and effectively counteracted HFD-induced microbial imbalance. Exercise preserved intestinal barrier integrity, which, in turn, prevented HFD-induced activation of the gut-liver axis and of downstream inflammatory pathways involved in NAFLD. These results support the use of physical exercise to prevent and manage childhood obesity and NAFLD development.