Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Journal of Eexercise & Organ Cross Talk

The effect of short-term sprint interval training on bone density of male Wistar rats under western diet

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Alireza Tabatabaee
Mohammad Rahmani
Maryam Khalesi

Department of physical education and Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22122/jeoct.2026.575286.1193
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of sprint interval training on Markers of bone metabolism and bone density in Male Wistar Rats under unhealthy high fat, sugar, salt Diet. The study design was an 8-week protocol consisting of three groups: Control (CO), Western diet (WD) and Western diet+Sprint interval training (SIT) (WD/SIT). WD rats received a high-fat, sugar, and salt diet, while WD/SIT rats followed the same diet combined with sprint interval training. The one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between groups for all variables (p<0.05). Effect sizes (η²) ranged from 0.47 to 0.99, indicating large effects for bone density (η²=0.99), ALP(η²=0.77), phosphorus (η²=0.74), and calcium (η²=0.47).  Post-hoc analysis by LSD test showed that the WD group exhibited a significantly lower femur bone density percentage (24.09±2.32) compared to both the control (58.40±1.64) and WD/SIT (47.67±1.60) groups (p<0.001). Regarding bone metabolism markers, the WD/SIT group demonstrated significantly reduced serum ALP levels (195.67±20.83IU/L) compared to the control (248.33±29.30IU/L) and WD (253.17±38.46IU/L) groups (p<0.001). For serum phosphorus, the WD/SIT group (5.68±0.58 mg/dL) was significantly lower than the control (7.68±0.63 mg/dL) and WD (8.58±0.78mg/dL) groups (p<0.001). Furthermore, serum calcium levels in the control group (10.27±0.80 mg/dL) were significantly higher than in the WD/SIT (8.92±0.61 mg/dL) and WD (9.18 ± 0.28 mg/dL) groups (p< 0.01). These results indicate that a high-calorie, high-salt diet had a negative effect on bone metabolism. However, sprint interval training partially attenuated these adverse effects.

What is already known on this subject?

Western dietary patterns, characterized by high levels of saturated fat, refined sugar, and sodium, are known to negatively affect bone health through mechanisms including chronic low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, impaired intestinal calcium absorption, and increased urinary calcium excretion (hypercalciuria).

High-intensity, weight-bearing physical activity is a well-established non-pharmacological intervention for promoting bone formation and maintaining bone mineral density, primarily through direct mechanical signals and the indirect action of muscle-derived cytokines (myokines).

Previous animal studies have demonstrated that high-fat or high-salt diets individually can elevate bone resorption markers and reduce bone density, while various forms of exercise (e.g., swimming, continuous running) can mitigate some of these negative effects.

 

What this study adds?

This is the first study to investigate the interactive effects of a sprint interval training (SIT) protocol specifically combined with a Western diet simultaneously high in fat, sugar, and salt (rather than a single component) on bone tissue in an animal model.

It provides novel evidence that a time-efficient SIT protocol (only 8 weeks, with three 10-second sprints per session, three days per week) significantly attenuates the severe negative impact of a multi-component unhealthy diet on bone mineral density, even when diet-induced weight loss occurred.

The study uniquely reports that SIT led to a significant reduction in serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and phosphorus in the Western diet group, which, in the context of the histological bone density findings, suggests a shift away from the high-turnover, catabolic state induced by the diet. This contrasts with the diet-only group, which exhibited high bone turnover markers alongside low bone density.

Keywords

Diet
High-fat
High calorie
Sodium
Exercise
Bone metabolism
Subjects

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Ali Samadi for his valuable assistance and support in conducting this research.

Funding

None.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in the present research.

Ethical approval This study was performed in line with the principles of the Iranian Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes, as well as the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. All procedures were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Shahed University, Tehran, Iran (Approval Code: IR.SHAHED.REC.1400.005).

Informed consent Animal study. 

Author contributions 

Conceptualization: A.T., Methodology: M.R., Software: M.K., Validation: A.T.,; Formal analysis: M.R.,; Investigation: M.K.,; Resources: A.T.,; Data curation: M.R.,; Writing - original draft:M.K.,; Writing–review & editing A.T.,; Visualization: M.R.,; Supervision: M.R.; Project administration: A.T.,.; Funding acquisition: M.R.    

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Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 01 June 2026

  • Receive Date 11 February 2026
  • Revise Date 27 February 2026
  • Accept Date 23 April 2026

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