Journal of Physical Activity and Hormones
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Spring 2018

There is well documented evidence that obesity are serious worldwide public health problems which result an increased risk of developing diseases such as, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus and regular exercises can be effective in preventing and treating such diseases. Chemerin, is a recently identified adipose tissue secreted hormone that has been shown to be elevated in obese individuals and associated with some components of the metabolic syndrome, including: the waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), fat percent, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein. Thus, the aim of current study was to analyze the effect of rhythmic aerobic exercise training on serum chemerin and body composition components in overweight women.

Twenty-four overweight women (BMI between 25 to 30 kg/m2) voluntarily participated in the study (12 subjects in each groups). Training groups participated in a rhythmic exercise training program for eight weeks, three times a week with 50-70 heart rpm for 60-90 minutes. The chemerin levels and body composition components were measured in the both groups pre and post training duration.

The serum chemerin levels were significantly decreased from 218.7 ± 7.6 to 190.3 ± 9.2 ng/mL (P<0.01) after training program. Weight and BMI, also, in exercise group was significantly decreased in compare with control after 8 weeks of exercise.   

Rhythmically exercise training were found to improve the serum chemerin levels and some components of body composition; thus, it could be effective in preventing obesity-related diseases and enhancing body composition of middle aged overweight women.

Heavy Duty resistance training (HD) is a new method that might improve muscle strength and hypertrophy. The effect of this method on thigh muscle hypertrophy is not well-known. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of HD versus traditional resistance training (TRT) on thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA).

Twenty untrained healthy men (age: 25.6 ± 2.0 mean ± SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were divided into HD group (n=10) or TRT group (n=10) randomly. The subjects in HD and TRT executed five resistance exercises selected to stress the thigh muscle groups in the following order: leg press, squat, leg extension, prone leg curl, and dead lift. HD and TRT consisted of 50-60 min of station weight training per day, 3 days a week, for 8 weeks. TRT training was performed in 5 stations and included 4 sets with 6-12 maximal repetitions at 70-80% of 1-RM in each station with 2-3 minute of rest. HD training was performed in 5 stations and included 4 sets with 6-10 maximal repetitions at 70% of 1-RM in each station with 10 second of rest. Thigh muscle CSA and grow hormone (GH) were measured before and after the intervention.

The results showed that maximum strength in each station was increased after HD and TRT (P<0.05). Thigh muscle CSA also was increased after HD and TRT; however the increase in thigh muscle CSA was higher in HD than TRT. For GH no significant differences were observed after the HD and TRT methods.

In summary, HD method is better than TRT method for thigh muscle CSA however no significant differences were found for GH level after these resistance training methods.

Physical activity and exercise influences energy metabolism in human subjects by increasing activity-induced energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate for several hours after exercise. The effect of Pilates exercise on thyroid function is not well known. Thus the purpose of present study was to examine the effect of eight-week Pilates exercise on triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in sedentary women.

Twenty two sedentary women aged between 25 to 40 years old participated in this study as the subject. The subjects were divided into Pilates group (n=11) or control group (n=11) randomly. The subjects in the Pilates group performed 60 min Pilates exercise, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. Body composition parameters, T3, T4 and TSH concentrations were measured before and after the intervention.

The results showed body fat percent was reduced after Pilates exercise (P<0.05), however for T3, T4, TSH concentrations no significant changes were observed.

In summary, the results suggest Pilates exercise utilized in this study had not significant effect on thyroid function in sedentary women.

Oxidative stress (OS) level is higher in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a marker for lipid peroxidation and the effect of exercise training on MDA in DS patients is not well known. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of selected Spark Motor Program on MDA in boys with DS.

Twenty Down syndrome boys aged between 10~14 participated in this study as the subjects. The subjects were randomly divided into experimental group (n=10) or control group (n=10). The experimental group was performed selected Spark Motor Program 3 days a week for 8 weeks. MDA concentration was measured before and 48h after the intervention.

The results showed that MDA decreased after 8 weeks selected experimental in compare to the control group.

In summary, Spark Motor Program that selected in this study decreases MDA of boys with DS.

Many studies documented the relationship between elevated plasma concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its aminoterminal propeptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiovascular diseases, especially heart failure (HF). However, it is still uncertain whether physical exercise leads to a significant release of NT-proBNP in healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an exhaustive aerobic exercise on NT-proBNP levels in healthy males.

In this study, Fifteen healthy male (aged: 22.2 ± 2.3 years; ± SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were performed Bruce protocol as the exhaustive aerobic exercise. NT-proBNP plasma concentrations were measured before and immediately after the exhaustive aerobic exercise. Paired-sample t- test was used to analyze the data.

The results demonstrated that NT-proBNP levels were increased significantly after the exhaustive aerobic exercise (P<0.05). We did not find any correlation between the post-exercise increase of NT-proBNP levels and body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (%BF) or VO2max.

In conclusion, the exhaustive aerobic exercise in healthy individuals led to a fast rise of plasma NT-proBNP concentrations.

Different kinds of chronic stress can induce various effects on body systems including the brain. One of the factors related to brain function is brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). So, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of physical stress as aerobic exercise/training and psychological stress on brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) in Wistar rats.

The study was semi experimental.  90 healthy male Wistar rats (weight 200±40 gr) were randomly divided in to 6 groups of Exercise (EX), Emotional stress (ES), Physical stress (PS), exercise combined with emotional (EXES), exercise combined with physical stress (EXPS) and control. Wistar rats were exposed to programs included one session (acute) and two weeks (chronic) aerobic training on treadmill with or without emotional and physical stress. Blood samples, for BDNF measurement, were taken 12 hours following the last session of treatment.  Statistical tests of analysis of variance and follow up Bonferroni test were used for data analysis.

After one session of the experiment, BDNF increased significantly in the EX group compared to other groups (p<0.05). After two weeks of training, BDNF significantly decreased in the ES groups compared to other groups, while BDNF increased in EXES compared to ES (P<0.05) group. One session of EX increased BDNF compared to non-EX groups, but following two weeks, chronic ES per se reduced BDNF compared to non-ES groups. But when ES combined with EX caused increasing of BDNF.

Present findings suggest that EX can probably prevent decreasing effect of ES on BDNF. However, future research should clarify the source of BDNF changes.