Table 1.

Summary of the effects of exercise on NAFLD and related molecular mechanisms.

Role	Animal	Exercise types	Results and mechanisms	Reference
Reducing lipid accumulation	Mice	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 6 weeks	Lipid droplets reduction, nitric oxide content ↑, total nitric oxide synthase (NOS) ↑, inducible NOS ↑, endothelial NOS, inducible NOS mRNA ↑	[37]
	Rat	Swimming; 90 min/d, 12 weeks	Serum adiponectin (ADPN) ↑, liver adiponectin receptor2 (AdipoR2) ↑, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) ↑	[38]
	Rat	Swimming; 90 min/d, 12 weeks	p-AMPK ↑, p-AMPK/AMPK ↑	[39]
	Mice	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 7 weeks	Liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances ↓, glutathione peroxidase, SOD, liver β-oxidation ↑, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) ↓, PPARα ↑, alternative oxidase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1, long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, cytochrome P450 4A10 (CYP4A10), CYP4A12 mRNA ↑	[40]
	Rat	Swimming; 60-90 min/d, 12 weeks	p-Protein kinase B (p-Akt) ↑, AMPK staining ↑, PPAR staining ↑, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 ↓	[41]
	Rat	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 6 weeks	Mannosylglycoprotein N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferase 1 ↓, PPARγ ↑, carbohydrate response element binding protein, SREBP-1c ↓	[42]
Improving insulin resistance	Mice	Treadmill exercise (HIIT) 60 min/d, 6 weeks	p-Akt ↑, fat and glucose uptake ↑, 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake ↑, inflammatory factors remained stable	[43]
	Rat	Swimming; 60 min/d, 6 weeks	Serum Irisin ↑, liver PPARα ↑	[44]
	Human	Brisk walking, tai chi; 60 min/d, 16 weeks	Serum SREBP-1c ↓, retinol binding protein 4 ↓, TNF-α ↓	[45]
Inhibiting inflammation	Rat	Treadmill exercise 60 min/d, 6 weeks	High-molecular-weight adiponectin ↑, Sirt-1 ↑, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) ↓, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, neutrophil cytosolic factor 2 ↓	[46]
	Rat	Swimming; 90 min/d, 12 weeks	NF-κB ↓, TNF-α ↓	[47]
	Mice	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 16 weeks	TNF-α ↓, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1 ↓, collagen1α ↓, CD11c ↓, toll-like receptor 4 ↓	[48]
	Rat	Swimming; 90 min/d, 12 weeks	TNF-α ↓, adiponectin mRNA ↑	[49]
	Rat	Swimming; 90 min/d, 12 weeks	Serum ADPN ↑, liver AdipoR2 ↑, PPARα ↑	[38]
Strengthening cell function	Mice	Treadmill exercise; 40 min/d, 10 weeks	Liver miR33 ↑, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-coa carboxylase, SREBP-1c ↓, liver autophagy-related protein 5, autophagy-related protein 7, lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2, Beclin1 ↑	[50]
	Mice	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 16 weeks	Protein dispersibility index ↓, IRE-1α, p-JNK ↓, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase ↓, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) ↑	[51]
	Rat	Wheel running; 60 min/d, 8 weeks	Mitochondrial metabolic enzyme ↑, oxygen consumption ↑, maintain mitochondrial membrane phosphatidylethanolamine	[52]
	Rat	Treadmill exercise; 60 min/d, 8 weeks	Liver mitochondrial phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol ↑, saturated fatty acids ↓, polyunsaturated fatty acids ↑, mitochondrial biogenesis ↑	[53]