Effects of Tuina static training on vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and adiponectin in obese rats

To observe the effects and explore the mechanism of Tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage) static training on vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and adiponectin (APN) in obese rats.

Eight of 40 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly selected as a normal group to be fed a common diet. The remaining rats were fed a high-fat diet to induce obesity models and randomly divided into a model group, an aerobic exercise group, and a static training group after successful modeling, with 8 rats in each group. During the entire experiment, rats in the normal group were fed a common diet without intervention. Rats in the model group were fed a high-fat diet without intervention. Rats in the aerobic exercise group were given moderate-intensity running exercises. Rats in the static training group were given 6-day/week static training for 8 weeks. The body mass and length of rats were recorded throughout the experiment, and the Lee’s index was calculated. After the intervention, the perirenal and peri-epididymal fat weights of rats were measured, and the fat/body mass ratio was calculated. Four items of blood lipids were detected by biochemical methods [triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)]; serum nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1), soluble thrombomodulin (sTM), and APN were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The morphological changes of the aorta in each group were observed under the microscope.

Compared with the normal group, the body mass, body length, Lee’s index, perirenal fat mass, peri-epididymal fat mass, fat/body mass ratio, TG, TC, LDL, ET-1, and sTM in the model group were significantly increased (P<0.05), while the HDL, NO, and APN were significantly reduced (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the body mass, Lee’s index, perirenal fat mass, peri-epididymal mass, fat/body mass ratio, TC, LDL, ET-1, and sTM in the aerobic exercise group and the static training group were significantly reduced (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the HDL, NO, and APN were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the aerobic exercise group, NO in the static training group was significantly higher (P<0.05). APN was positively correlated with NO (P<0.01), while APN was negatively correlated with ET-1 or sTM (P<0.01). Aortic morphological observation showed that the degree of endothelial injury in the aerobic exercise group and the static training group was less significant than that in the model group, and the improvement of endothelial cell morphology in the static training group was more notable than that in the aerobic exercise group.

Tuina static training and aerobic exercise improved the aortic endothelial injury in obese rats, and the effect of Tuina static training was more significant. The mechanism of action may be related to regulating lipid metabolism and promoting APN secretion.