Circulating branch chain amino acids and improvement in liver fat content in response to exercise interventions in NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is likely to be associated with increased circulating branched-chain amino acids. We investigated the relationship between changes in branched-chain amino acids levels in the serum and improvement in liver fat content caused by exercise intervention in individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The exploratory study included 208 central obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease individuals from an exercise intervention randomized clinical trial for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The participants were randomly assigned to control, moderate, and vigorous-moderate exercise groups for 12 months. Changes in total branched-chain amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine levels from baseline to 6 months were calculated. Liver fat content was determined by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Reductions in circulating levels of total branched-chain amino acids, leucine, and valine levels from baseline to 6 months were significantly associated with the improvement of liver fat content at 6 months and 12 months (p p