Abstract: Objective To study the effect of aerobic exercise and dietary intervention on lipid metabolism in metabolic syndrome rats, and investigate the possible mechanism mediated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR α). Methods After one-week feeding, Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into blank control group (CC group) and model group which were feed in high-fat-and-salt diet for 18 weeks to establish a metabolic syndrome model. Then, the metabolic syndrome rats were randomly divided into model control group (MC), the model high-fat diet group (MHE) and the model general died exercise group (ME). ME and MHE groups were forced to run on a treadmill for twelve weeks at the same time. The weight of perirenal fat, blood free fat acid (FFA), and blood lipid were determined. The expression of PPARα mRNA in myocardium was detected by RT-PCR. Western blotting was applied to detect the protein expression of PPARα in myocardium. Results Compared with CC group, MC group showed significant increase in body weight, perirenal fat weigh, FFA, and blood lipid (P<0.05), and significant decrease in PPARα mRNA and protein expression (P<0.01) in myocardium. Compared with MC group, ME and MHE groups showed significant decrease in body weight, perirenal fat weight, triglyceride (TG), and showed significant increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and the expression of PPARα mRNA and protein in myocardium (P<0.05). Compared with MHE group, ME group showed decrease in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (P<0.05), and increase in the expression of PPARα mRNA and protein (P<0.01). Conclusion Aerobic exercise may activate the expression of PPARα, enhance the utilization of fatty acid, reduce body mass and visceral fat mass, improve the dyslipidemia and then regulate lipid metabolism in metabolic syndrome rats.

Key words: metabolic syndrome, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, aerobic exercise, dietary intervention, lipid metabolism, rats