The influence of concurrent training intensity on serum irisin and abdominal fat in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause seems to be among the factors related to the development of prediabetes and central obesity. Conversely, physical activity may have a major role in reducing metabolic syndrome in women of postmenopausal age. Material and methods: Forty-eight postmenopausal active and sedentary women within the ages of 45-65 years were randomized to four groups: 1) high-intensity concurrent interval exercise (HCI; n = 15), 2) moderate-intensity continuous concurrent exercise (MCC; n = 14), 3) control daily active (CDA; n = 10), and 4) control sedentary (COS; n = 9). The subjects in the preceding training groups exercised three times per week for 50-65 min/session with high/moderate concurrent exercise for 10 weeks. The levels of serum irisin, insulin sensitivity, abdominal fat distribution (visceral and subcutaneous), and total abdominal fat were measured at baseline and post-test. Results: This study showed that the HCI group had a significantly increased serum irisin (p < 0.001), stimulated favorable alterations in insulin sensitivity status (p = 0.003), and significantly decreased subcutaneous, visceral and, total abdominal fat (p < 0.001). Also, the insulin sensitivity status was significantly increased (p = 0.01) and subcutaneous abdominal fat significantly decreased in the MCC group (p = 0.018). However, this study's results did not find a considerable correlation between insulin sensitivity, irisin level, weight loss and abdominal fat distribution. Conclusions: High-intensity concurrent exercise has a greater influence on improving most metabolic-related parameters than moderate-intensity concurrent exercise.

The Role of Irisin in Exercise-Mediated Bone Health

“…Some resistance trainings during early life improve BMD and bone structural properties, and have a direct preventive effect on bone diseases in later life ( Gomez-Bruton et al, 2017 ), and irisin also plays a key role in this process ( Elizondo-Montemayor et al, 2018 ). Although different types of exercise training have conflicting results on irisin, most studies suggest that high-moderate intensity ( Tsuchiya et al, 2014 ; Rashti et al, 2019 ; Torre-Saldana et al, 2019 ) and resistance exercises ( Nygaard et al, 2015 ; Tsuchiya et al, 2015 ; Kim et al, 2016 ) lead to more significantly enhanced in irisin level, and improve bone loss in patients with osteoporosis ( Watson et al, 2019 ). This means that irisin has become a new target in promoting bone health, and the possibility of treating some bone diseases.…”

Wand Stretching Exercise Decreases Abdominal Obesity Among Adults With High Body Mass Index Without Altering Fat Oxidation

“…This hypothesis suggests a negative energy balance in fat cells due to the competition from skeletal muscle for circulating hydrocarbon sources (Kuo and Harris, 2016). The WE was moderate-intensity exercise, which has been shown to reduce abdominal fat (Rashti et al, 2019). However, this mechanism was not confirmed in this study, because muscle mass determined by the fat free mass was increased in the WE group alone without any significant differences in the control group.…”

“…Regular moderate-intensity endurance exercise has been recommended to minimize CVRF (American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 2000), including abdominal fat (Rashti et al, 2019;Jiang et al, 2020) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (Izquierdo-Porrera et al, 2000), and increase insulin sensitivity, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and BMR (Morio et al, 1998). The effects of exercise training in lowering persistent systemic inflammation has been confirmed by reports of reduced hsCRP levels (Kohut et al, 2006).…”

Long-Term Effect of Exercise on Irisin Blood Levels—Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…More importantly, exercise including resistance training [44], aquaerobic training [50], endurance training [55], golf [61], low-intensity resistance training [66], high-intensity interval training [69], and treadmill walking [51] increased irisin blood levels in healthy older females and resistance training [82] in healthy older males, which may, in fact, protect against bone loss and muscle atrophy [6]. In this case, irisin might provide a therapeutic choice for treating diseases caused by inactivity (which often is the case for older adults), including osteoporosis and sarcopenia, or it may be used as a useful biomarker for the assessment of bone and muscle health as suggested by Leustean et al [85].…”