The effect of exercise status on response of homocysteine and insulin resistance to aerobic exercise in postmenopausal obese women

Homocysteine and insulin resistance in postmenoupausal women rises due to decrease in estrogen, low mobility and weight gain which increase the cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise training status on response of homocysteine and insulin resistance to aerobic exercise in active and nonactive obese postmenopausal women. Therefore, 21 obese postmenopausal women with the age of 48 - 65 yrs voluntary participated in the study and assigned in active (n=11) and nonactive (n=10) groups. Aerobic exercise was performed with 70-75 percent of maximum heart rate. Blood sample was obtained before and after exercise, and 10 hours following fasting. Results showed that baseline levels of ​​homocysteine (p= 0.003) ​​and insulin resistance (p=0.003) were significantly lower in active subjects compared with inactive ones. However, homocysteine level was significantly (p=0.028) lower in active than to nonactive subjects following aerobic exercise. It can be concluded that regular aerobic training improves insulin resistance and homocysteine levels in obese postmenopausal women, however, a session of moderate aerobic exercise could not influence on insulin resistance. Although, homocysteine response was higher in active group. It seems that changes manner of two variable to aerobic exercise is different.