Six months after bariatric surgery and significant weight loss, many molecular pathways involved in obesity and metabolic diseases change. These findings are an important tool to identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention and clinical practice of nutritional genomics in obesity.
Background
Telomere length is inversely associated with the senescence and aging process. Parallelly, obesity can promote telomere shortening. Evidence suggests that physical activity may promote telomere elongation.
Objective
This study’s objective is to evaluate the effects of combined exercise training on telomere length in obese women.
Design and Methods
Twenty pre-menopausal women (BMI 30–40 kg/m2, 20–40 years) submitted to combined training (strength and aerobic exercises), but only 13 finished the protocol. Each exercise session lasted 55 min/day, three times a week, throughout 8 weeks. Anthropometric data, body composition, physical performance (Vo2max), and 8-h fasting blood samples were taken before and after 8 weeks of training. Leukocyte DNA was extracted for telomere length by RT-qPCR reaction, using the 2−ΔΔCt methodology.
Results
After the training intervention, significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in telomere length (respectively before and after, 1.03 ± 0.04 to 1.07 ± 0.04 T/S ratio), fat-free mass (46 ± 7 to 48 ± 5 kg), Vo2max (35 ± 3 to 38 ± 3 ml/kg/min), and waist circumference (96 ± 8 to 90 ± 6 cm). In addition, an inverse correlation between waist circumference and telomere length was found, before (r = − 0.536, p = 0.017) and after (r = − 0.655, p = 0.015) exercise training.
Conclusion
Combined exercise promoted leukocyte telomere elongation in obese women. Besides, the data suggested that greater waist circumference may predict shorter telomere length.
Clinical Trial Registration
ClinicalTrails.gov, NCT03119350. Retrospectively registered on 18 April 2017
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