Purpose: Overweight and obesity induced by a high fat diet disrupt cholesterol homeostasis, with one of the key steps occurring during intestinal cholesterol absorption. Since the effects of herbal supplements such as rice bran and aerobic exercise on the intestinal cholesterol absorption pathway remain unclear, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of moderate intensity aerobic exercise and rice bran extract supplementation on NPC1 gene expression in the intestinal tissue of rats fed a high fat diet.
Methods: In this study, thirty 8 week old female Wistar rats were randomly assigned to five groups (six rats per group): normal diet control, high fat diet control, aerobic exercise + high fat diet, rice bran extract + high fat diet, and aerobic exercise + rice bran extract + high fat diet. The aerobic training program consisted of moderate intensity continuous exercise (50–65% of maximal oxygen consumption) for six weeks, five sessions per week. The ethanol extract of rice bran was administered orally via gavage at a dose of 60 mg/kg to the supplement and combined (exercise + supplement) groups. After the intervention period, the rats were sacrificed and intestinal tissue was collected for measurement of NPC1 gene expression using Real-Time PCR.
Results: The findings showed that NPC1 gene expression was significantly reduced in the exercise, exercise + rice bran extract, and rice bran extract groups compared to the high fat diet control group.
Conclusion: the results suggest that since the NPC1 gene plays a key role in regulating lipid absorption and metabolism, its reduced expression may indicate a beneficial effect of these interventions on alleviating disorders associated with a high fat diet. combining aerobic exercise with rice bran extract may serve as an effective approach for modulating molecular alterations related to obesity and improving metabolic function of the gastrointestinal system.