high- and moderate-intensity training are equipotent in abrogating myocardial inflammation in rats fed awestern diet

Introduction: western diet (wd) activates inflammatory pathways in the myocardium, where jeopardizes contractile function. this study aimed to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of high-intensity interval training (hiit) and moderate-intensity continuous training (mict) in rats fed a wd. methods: wistar rats were assigned to the six groups: normal diet (nd)+hiit, wd+hiit, nd+mict, wd+mict, sedentary fed a nd or wd (sed+nd and sed+wd, respectively). hiit and mict were performed on a motorized treadmill, five consecutive days/week for 12 weeks. in these animals, visceral fat mass and myocardial expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines i.e. tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-α) and myeloperoxidase (mpo) were measured. western blotting was performed to identify cardiac protein expression. results: wd+sed significantly increased visceral fat mass compared with nd+sed. wd+sed significantly resulted in tnf-α over-expression compared with nd+sed. there were no significant differences in mpo expression between wd+sed and nd+sed. in trained groups, visceral fat mass and tnf-α expression were lower in wd+hiit and wd+mict compared with wd+sed, with similar effects between hiit and mict modes. mpo expression was significantly lower in nd+hiit and nd+mict compared with nd+sed, with similar effects between hiit and mict modes. conclusion: wd co-existing with sed paves the way to a pro-inflammatory milieu in the heart. hiit and mict exert similar anti-inflammatory effects on the myocardium; therefore, aerobic training, regardless of modality or intensity, can be a practical solution for those who regularly consume wd.