Efeito do jejum intermitente associado ao treinamento aeróbico sobre o eixo intestino-cérebro de ratos Wistar

Abstract

Intermittent fasting (JI) has been studied in association with aerobic training. Both interventions demonstrate beneficial effects on the composition of the intestinal microbiota, separately, but little is known about the benefits to the brain through the gut-brain axis.The present study aimed to evaluate parameters related to the gut-brain axis of Wistar rats submitted to IF associated with aerobic training. Forty Wistar rats were used with ± 140 days of age and an average weight of 380.80 ± 23.04 g, randomized in 4 groups: sedentary control (SC), trained control (TC) and experimental groups submitted to JI: sedentary (SIF) and trained (TIF). The fasting protocol used was time-restricted and the groups submitted to aerobic exercise underwent training on a treadmill 5 times a week, for 30 min. Both interventions were performed during the 4 weeks of the experiment. Consumption, somatic parameters, fecal bacteria count, quantification of organic acids in the faeces and gut, evaluation of anxious and depressive behaviors, as well as cerebral and intestinal histology were evaluated. The adiposity index was similar between the TC (2.15±0.43%), SIF (1.98±0.69%) and TIF (1.86±0.51%) groups, which differed from SC (2.98±0.80%). TIF had a lower counts of lactic acid bacteria, while SIF had a higher count of Bifidobacterium (10.91±0.04 CFU/g) and Enterococcus (8.85±1.36 CFU/g). TIF had the highest amount of formic acid in the faeces (44.44±2.40 μmol/g), while SIF had the highest propionic acid content in the faeces (802.80±00.33 μmol/g), followed by TIF (573.60±2.67 μmol/g), in the gut of TIF had the lowest amount of succinic acid (0.38±0.01 μmol/g), while SIF had the lowest content of lactic acid (0.85±0.01 μmol/g). TIF demonstrated a tendency towards the anxiolytic effect and SIF and TIF potential antidepressant effect. Fasting caused different brain and gut injuries, regardless of exercise. Our results demonstrate that IF and aerobic exercise, associated or not, can modulate parameters related to the gut-brain axis of Wistar rats, demonstrating benefits that may be related to the levels of organic acids, however they also present negative results in the cerebral and intestinal histology.