Chronic exercise lowers the defended body weight gain and adiposity in diet-induced obese rats

The effects of running wheel exercise and caloric restriction on the regulation of body weight, adiposity, and hypothalamic neuropeptide expression were compared in diet-induced obese male rats over 6 wk. Compared with sedentary controls, exercising rats had reduced body weight gain (24%), visceral ( 4 fat pads; 36%) and carcass ( leptin; 35%) adiposity but not insulin levels. Hypothalamic arcuate nucleus ( ARC) proopiomelanocortin ( POMC) mRNA expression was 25% lower, but ARC neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide, dorsomedial nucleus (DMN) NPY, and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) expression was comparable to controls. Sedentary rats calorically restricted to 85% of control body weight reduced their visceral adiposity ( 24%), leptin (64%), and insulin (21%) levels. ARC NPY (23%) and DMN NPY (60%) were increased, while ARC POMC (40%) and PVN CRH (14%) were decreased. Calorically restricted exercising rats ran half as much as ad libitum-fed exercising rats and had less visceral obesity than comparably restricted sedentary rats. When sedentary restricted rats were refed after 4 wk, they increased intake and regained the weight gain and adiposity of sedentary controls. While refed exercising rats and sedentary rats ate comparable amounts, refed exercising rats regained weight and adiposity only to the level of ad libitum-fed exercising rats. Thus exercise lowers the defended level of weight gain and adiposity without a compensatory increase in intake and with a very different profile of hypothalamic neuropeptide expression from calorically restricted rats. This may be due to exercise-related factors other than plasma insulin and leptin.