Intrinsic (Genetic) Aerobic Fitness Impacts Susceptibility for Metabolic Disease

Low-capacity runner (LCR) and high-capacity runner (HCR) rat strains are divergent for running capacity and aerobic fitness. The LCR rats are susceptible to obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver whereas the HCR are protected. We performed studies testing the hypothesis that the divergence in susceptibility for obesity and metabolic dysfunction between HCR/ LCR is due to differences in hepatic mitochondrial function that also may drive differences in energy expenditure and substrate usage.