Exercise duration and detraining influence not only body weight but also histopathological changes in the white adipose tissue of young male OLETF rats as an obesity model

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Environmental exposures during early life impact health and disease in later life. Therefore, understanding the effects of exercise during early life and detraining on obesity in adulthood may be valuable for preventing and treating obesity. This study aimed to examine the effects of short- and long-term exercise and detraining during early life on the histological changes in adulthood. Four-week-old male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats were used as an animal model of obesity. The OLETF rats were divided into the sedentary and exercise groups. The rats in the exercise group were further divided into two subgroups according to the exercise period: exercised from 4- to 8-week-old and non-exercised from 8- to 20-week-old, and exercised from 4- to 12-week-old and non-exercised from 12- to 20-week-old. The metabolic profiles in adulthood, such as body weight, did not significantly differ between rats subjected to short- and long-term exercise during the young period. However, histological changes in white adipose tissue, such as adipocyte hypertrophy and chronic inflammation, were effectively reduced with long-term exercise compared with short-term exercise. Long-term exercise during the young period resulted in low adiposity in adulthood, although no significant differences in body weight after detraining were observed.