Differential Effects of Exercise Programs on Neuregulin 4, Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Men With Obesity

Abstract

BackgroundNeuregulin 4 (Nrg4) is an adipokine that is sensitive to energy expenditure and with a potential role in metabolic homeostasis and obesity. This study examined the effects of 12 weeks of three different exercise training protocols on Nrg4 levels, cardiometabolic risk factors, and body composition parameters in men with obesity.MethodsSixty adult men with obesity (Mean ± SD; age: 27.60 ± 8.4 yrs.; height: 168.4 ± 2.6 cm; weight: 96.7 ± 7.2 kg) were randomly allocated into four equal (n = 15) groups: High- Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Circuit Resistance Training (CRT), Moderate Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) or a control group. The HIIT protocol involved six bouts of 3-min high-intensity exercise (90% VO2peak) followed by 3-min low-intensity exercise (50% VO2peak). The CRT group performed three circuits of resistance training, where each circuit included 11 exercises at 20% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) and 70% of VO2peak, and with a work-to-rest ratio of 2:1 (40-s exercise and 20-s rest) and 60-s recovery between circuits. The MICT group performed 36 min of exercise at 70% of VO2peak. All measurements were taken 72 h before and after the first and last training sessions.ResultsThere were significant differences between the groups in fat-free mass (FFM), (effect size (ES): 0.78), fat mass (ES: 0.86), VO2peak (ES: 0.59), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (ES: 0.83), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) (ES: 0.79), total cholesterol (TC) (ES: 0.90), triglyceride (TG) (ES: 0.52) glucose (ES: 0.39), insulin (ES: 0.61), HOM-IR (ES: 0.91) and Nrg4 (ES: 0.98) (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes in very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) (ES: 0.13) levels, or body weights (ES: 0.51) (p > 0.05). Levels of Nrg4 were negatively correlated with LDL-C, TC, TG, VLDL-C, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR (p < 0.05) and positively with HDL-C (p < 0.05).ConclusionOur results suggest that HIIT and CRT protocols have greater effects than MICT protocol on Nrg4 levels, metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, and body composition variables in men with obesity.

Moderators of Resistance Training Effects in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…S3A, see Supplemental Digital Content, Contour-enhanced funnel plot for overall effects on whole-body lean mass and after adjustment omitting studies which the confidence intervals did not overlap the estimated pooled effects, http://links.lww.com/MSS/ C700). A significant increase of 0.8 kg (95% CI = 0.6 to 0.9 kg, P < 0.001) was observed after omitting five studies (28,52,56,64,103) in which the confidence intervals did not overlap the estimated pooled effect (Fig. 3B).…”

New Discovered Adipokines Associated with the Pathogenesis of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

“…What is more, the increase was greater in HIIT and CRT compared with the MICT. 87 After 24 weeks, metformin therapy resulted in a significant increase of NRG4 levels compared with the baseline and the placebo group. 88 …”

“…What is more, the increase was greater in HIIT and CRT compared with the MICT. 87 After 24 weeks, metformin therapy resulted in a significant increase of NRG4 levels compared with the baseline and the placebo group. 88 The phenotype of mice with either a gain or loss of NRG4 function suggest that reduced NRG4 may be causally linked to obesity-related impaired glucose metabolism.…”

Neuregulin 4 as a novel adipokine in energy metabolism

“…Physical activity is a well-recognized lifestyle intervention to combat obesity (Oppert et al, 2021). Nrg4 levels in men with obesity were significantly increased by 12 weeks of resistance (Saeidi et al, 2021). The results showed that all three modalities increased serum Nrg4 levels and showed favorable metabolic regulatory effects, while the HIIT and CRT programs exerted greater effects on Nrg4 and metabolic risk factors than the MICT program (Saeidi et al, 2021).…”

“…Another study examined the effects of three different training modalities, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), circuit resistance training (CRT), and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), on serum Nrg4 levels and various metabolic-related parameters in men with obesity. Increased Nrg4 levels were significantly associated with improved serum glycolipid metabolism markers ( Saeidi et al, 2021 ). The results showed that all three modalities increased serum Nrg4 levels and showed favorable metabolic regulatory effects, while the HIIT and CRT programs exerted greater effects on Nrg4 and metabolic risk factors than the MICT program ( Saeidi et al, 2021 ).…”