Introdaction: Recent evidence suggests that increased physical activity participation can lead to favorable health benefits for patients with metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). However, very few have examined the combined effects of high- intensity interval training (HIIT) and intermittent fasting (IF), especially on cardiometabolic risk factors in patients with MAFLD. Therefore, the pupose of this study was to evaluate the effects of HIIT with and without IF on body composition and markers of cardiometabolic risk in patients with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease.
Metadology: In this quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design, 48 patients with MAFLD (with mean±SD; age 43.60± 3.46 years and body mass index: 28.45±1.60 kg/m2), were randomly assigned into HIIT (HIIT, n = 15), HIIT plus intermittent fastinf (HIIT+ IF, n = 16), or ntermittent Fasting (IF, n = 17) groups. HIIT training program were performed, 3 times/week with 80–95% HRpeak intensity in 14 min/sessions for 12 weeks. The 5:2 IF groups restricted energy intake for two non-consecutive days per week for 12 weeks. Serum levels of fasting glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and bodycimpisition measurements (weight, body mass index) were measured before and after 12 weeks of study. The data were analyzed using the paired sample t-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at a level less than 0.05.
Results: Analysis of ANCOVA, significant reduction in weight, body mass index, serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C in the HIIT + IF and IF groups compared to the HIIT alone group and significant increase in the HDL-C in the HIIT + IF and HIIT alone compared to the IF group (p>0.05). Although there was a significant decrease in the levels of fasting glucose, insulin and insulin resistance in all three groups after 12 weeks of study compared to the baseline (p>0.05), however, no significant difference was observed between the groups (p≥0.05).
Discussion: The results suggest that high-intensity interval training combined with intermittent calorie restriction (ICR) can reduce body composition and lipid profile more effectively than either HIIT or ICR alone in in obese women. The results of the present study showed that HIIT combined with IF can help to improve body composition and cardiometabolic risk markers in patients with MAFLD.