Exercise improves high fat diet-impaired vascular function

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease is increasing due to increases in the consumption of high fat diets (HFDs) and the epidemic of obesity. In the present study, it was hypothesized that swimming exercise may prevent HFD-induced impairment of aortic function and that these changes are associated with reduction of oxidative stress, proinflammatory adipokines/cytokines. Male, 6-week-old C57BL/6J mice were fed a 60% lipid composition HFD with or without swimming exercise (90 min/swim and 2 swims/day) for 16 weeks. Exercise training prevented HFD-induced increases in visceral fat weight, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Furthermore, exercise training improved HFD-impaired aortic endothelium-dependent dilation that was associated with reduction of oxidative stress, leptin, resistin, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, interleukin (IL)6 and IL8. In addition, exercise inhibited HFD-induced vascular endothelial growth factor expression in gastrocnemius skeletal muscle. These data demonstrate that swimming exercise prevents aortic tissue oxidative stress, inflammation and vascular dysfunction in HFD-induced obesity.