The effect of acute step-aerobic exercise on adiponectin and leptin levels in premenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: It is well known that the prevalence of obesity, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome is increasing during the transition to menopausal stages. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acute step-aerobic exercise on levels of leptin and adiponectin, which are adipose tissue-derived adipocytokines, associated with obesity, hypertension and other diseases in sedentary premenopausal women. METHODS: Twenty-four sedentary premenopausal volunteer women between the ages of 40-45 (premenopause group) and 24 healthy adults between the ages of 21-39 (control group) were enrolled in this study. Moderate intensity step-aerobic exercise (50-60% of HRmax) was applied for 60 min to the premenopausal subjects. Venous blood samples were obtained before and after the exercise. Adiponectin and leptin levels were determined using the ELISA method. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found in terms of BMI values, and leptin levels between the premenopause and control group, while differences of adiponectin were statistically significant. Plasma leptin levels of the premenopausal women decreased whereas adiponectin levels increased meaningfully after the acute aerobic exercise (P<0.05). When the premenopausal women were grouped according to BMI, there were no significant differences between BMI≤30 and >30 groups in terms of leptin and adiponectin levels measured before and after exercise. CONCLUSIONS: Our results may suggest that acute step aerobic exercise in premenopausal women alters leptin and adiponectin levels in favor of the organism. However, further studies are needed.