The effect of concurrent training on the levels of leptin, adiponectin, and body composition in adults with overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

     Leptin and adiponectin are two types of adipokines (or adipocytokines) that play an important role in controlling metabolic processes, especially in obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of simultaneous exercise on leptin, adiponectin and body composition levels in adults with overweight and obesity. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar for English and Persian articles published until September 2023. The present meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of concurrent exercise on leptin, adiponectin and body composition levels in adults with overweight and obesity. Effect size and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using random effect model. The results of 26 studies with 732 overweight and obese adults showed that simultaneous exercise caused a significant decrease in serum leptin [SMD=-0.61, p=0.001], body weight [WMD=-3.38 kg, p=0.001], BMI [WMD=-0.74 kg.m2, p=0.001], body fat mass [WMD=-2.56 g, p=0.001], waist circumference [WMD=-5.47 cm, p=0.001], waist circumference to hip circumference ratio [WMD=-0.02, p=0.001], and increased serum adiponectin was significant [SMD=0.56, p=0.001] compared to the control group in adults with overweight and obesity. Concurrent and combined training causes a significant decrease in serum leptin and a significant increase in serum adiponectin in adults with overweight and obesity. This shows the significant health benefits of concurrent exercise for adults. Therefore, it is suggested that the aforementioned statistical community should take advantage of the benefits of concurrent exercise to achieve health.