title: Pomegranate extract and exercise provide additive benefits on improvement of immune function by inhibiting inflammation and oxidative stress in high-fat-diet-induced obesity in rats.
abstract: Obesity is reported to be associated with immune dysfunction and a state of low-grade, chronic inflammation. Either pomegranate extract (PomE) or exercise (Ex) has been shown to have antiobesity, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Nevertheless, no study has addressed the additive benefits of PomE and Ex on the restoration of obesity-induced immune defects.
  
  
  
  The present work aims to study the effect of PomE and Ex as a combined intervention on immune function and the underlying mechanism involved in inflammation and oxidative stress in rats with high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity.
  
  
  
  Our results demonstrate that the combination of PomE and Ex showed additive benefits on inhibition of HFD-induced body weight increase and improvement of HFD-induced immune dysfunction, including (a) attenuating the abnormality of histomorphology of the spleen, (b) increasing the ratio of the CD4+:CD8+ T cell subpopulations in splenocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), (c) inhibition of apoptosis in splenocytes and PBMC, (d) normalizing peritoneal macrophage phenotypes and (e) restoring immunomodulating factors in serum. We also find that immune dysfunction in HFD-fed rats was associated with increased inflammatory cytokine secretion and oxidative stress biomarkers, and that the combination of PomE and Ex effectively inhibited the inflammatory response and decreased oxidative damage.
  
  
  
  The effect of PomE and Ex as a combined intervention is greater than the effect of either PomE or Ex alone, showing that PomE and Ex may be additively effective in improving immune function in HFD-fed rats by inhibiting inflammation and decreasing oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China.
authors.forename: Ziyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China.
authors.forename: Jialong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Central Laboratory, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, 710068, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology and Frontier Institute of Science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology and Frontier Institute of Science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology and Frontier Institute of Science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Zhihui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China; Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology and Frontier Institute of Science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Security, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China. Electronic address: wenyan2014@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wenyan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin, 300381, China; Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology and Frontier Institute of Science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China. Electronic address: j.liu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiankang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins / Q000032:analysis / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D029561:Lythraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins; D010936:Plant Extracts; C115642:punicalagin
keywords: Exercise; Immune function; Inflammation; Obesity; Oxidative stress; Pomegranate extract