Resveratrol and regular exercise can restore hepatic alterations induced by hypertension in rats

Hypertension is a common disease that affects many organs including heart, vessel, and kidney. Moreover, chronic hypertension can lead to hepatic impairments accompanied by oxidative and inflammatory disturbances. In present study, the effects of regular exercise and resveratrol on hepatic alterations caused by hypertension were comparatively examined. Hypertension was produced by deoxycorticosterone-acetate and salt application in male Wistar rats for twelve weeks. In the last six weeks, resveratrol was given in the drinking water and, the exercise training was applied on a rat treadmill at 20 m/min, 5 days a week, for 45 minutes. At the end of the treatment, blood and liver samples were collected for molecular and biochemical analysis. Regular exercise reduced the elevation in liver weight, liver weight/body weight ratio and plasma lipid levels, while resveratrol only improved elevated plasma triglyceride and LDL cholesterol in hypertensive rats. Both treatments enhanced the hepatic total antioxidant capacity of hypertensive animals. Resveratrol repressed hypertension-triggered NLRP3 inflammasome activation by reversing the increase in hepatic Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), nuclear factor- κB (NF-κB), p-NF- κB, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression and the cleaved-caspase-1/procaspase-1 ratio. Similarly, regular exercise inhibited stimulation of NLRP3 inflammasome in hypertensive liver by suppressing the elevation of NLRP3, p-NF-κB, NF-κB expression and the mature-IL-1β/pro-IL-1β ratio. Both interventions prevented the reduction in the mitophagic biomarker PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) level in the hypertensive groups. These findings revealed that resveratrol supplementation and regular exercise have beneficial effect on hypertension-induced hepatic changes by regulating antioxidant status, NLRP3 inflammasome-induced inflammation and mitophagy.