the effect of aerobic exercise and pistachio soft hull extract on the expression of the il-6 and il-1β genes in the soleus muscle of female rats fed a high-fat diet

Background: obesity is considered the most important public health problem. previous studies have confirmed that a high-fat diet (hfd) can cause the development of systemic and tissue inflammation due to the increase in pro-inflammatory markers. objectives: this study aims to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise and pistachio soft hull extract (pshe) on inflammatory gene expression in the soleus muscle of rats fed a hfd. methods: in an experimental trial, 30 female wistar rats weighing between 180 and 200 grams were selected as subjects and randomly divided into five groups: normal diet control, hfd control, hfd aerobic exercise, hfd-pshe, and hfd aerobic exercise-pshe. the aerobic exercise program consisted of four weeks of five weekly sessions of running on a treadmill at an intensity of 50 – 60% vo 2max. pistachio soft hull extract at a dose of 60 mg/kg was administered to the rats by gavage for four weeks, five times a week. forty-eight hours after the last interventions, the rats were anesthetized, and the soleus muscle was removed to determine the expression of the il-6 and il-1β genes. results: induction of hfd significantly decreased il-6 (p = 0.001) and increased il-1β (p = 0.001) gene expression. il-1β gene expression in the aerobic exercise (p = 0.001), pshe (p = 0.003), and aerobic exercise-pshe (p = 0.001) groups was significantly lower than in the hfd control group. aerobic exercise (p = 0.002), pshe (p = 0.002), and the combination of aerobic exercise and pshe (p = 0.003) caused a significant increase in il-6 gene expression compared to the hfd control group. conclusions: high-fat diet promotes inflammation in skeletal muscle by increasing the expression of the il-1β and il-6 genes. aerobic exercise, pshe, and the combination of aerobic exercise and pshe can exert their anti-inflammatory effects by reducing the expression of the il-1β and il-6 genes in skeletal muscle tissue.