Abstract

Abstract:

Objective: Obesity is one of the important health problems in modern societies that is associated with numerous metabolic disorders. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with ginger supplementation on the expression of PGC-1 and UCP-1 genes in visceral adipose tissue of obese Wistar rats.

Methodology: 40 Wistar rats aged 56 days (8 weeks) weighing 9.43 ± 303.56 were randomly divided into four groups: control, HIIT training, ginger consumption, and a combination of HIIT and ginger. After a week of familiarization, the HIIT groups performed their training on a rodent treadmill for 4 weeks (6 sessions per week), while the ginger groups received daily ginger supplementation (30 mg of powder was added to the mice's food per meal) for 4 weeks (6 times per week). PGC-1 and UCP-1 gene expression levels were measured by Real-time PCR.

Results: The results of the present study showed that interval training and ginger supplementation each alone significantly increased PGC-1 and UCP-1 gene expression, and this increase in the interval training and ginger supplementation group was greater than either of them alone.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that the combination of HIIT training and ginger supplementation can be used as an effective approach to increase PGC-1 and UCP-1 gene expression and improve metabolic status and reduce visceral fat.