Plasma retinol-binding protein-4 and tumor necrosis factor-α are reduced in postmenopausal women after combination of different intensities of circuit resistance training and Zataria supplementation

Seyed Morteza Tayebi; Ayoub Saeidi; Mohamad Fashi; Seyed Pouya; Abedin Khosravi; Hossein Shirvani; Mehdi Ahmadian; Abderraouf Ben Abderrahman; Anthony C Hackney; Hassane Zouhal

doi:10.1007/s11332-019-00544-2

Plasma retinol-binding protein-4 and tumor necrosis factor-α are reduced in postmenopausal women after combination of different intensities of circuit resistance training and Zataria supplementation

Sport Sci Health. 2019 Dec;15(3):551-558. doi: 10.1007/s11332-019-00544-2. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical, Education and Sport Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
² Exercise Biochemistry Division, Faculty of Physical, Education and Sport Science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
³ Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical, Education and Health Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Physical Education and Sport Science Department, Islamic, Azad University-Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran.
⁵ Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Exercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran.
⁸ ISSEP Ksar Said, University of Manouba, Tunis, Tunisia.
⁹ Endocrine Section-Applied Physiology Laboratory, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹¹ Univ Rennes, M2S (Laboratoire Mouvement, Sport, Santé)-EA 1274, 35000 Rennes, France.

Abstract

Purpose: Zataria is a plant with anti-inflammatory properties, which has been used for the treatment of many diseases. This study investigated the effect of different intensities of circuit resistance training and Zataria supplementation on plasma retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP-4) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in postmenopausal women.

Methods: Seventy-two postmenopausal women were divided on randomized order into six groups: Control (McGinley and Bishop in J Appl Physiol 121(6):1290-1305, 2016), Training 35% (T35%), Training 55% (T55%), Zataria (Özgünen et al. in Scand J Med Sci Sports 20:140-147, 2010), Zataria/Training 35% (ZT35%), and Zataria/Training 55% (ZT55%). Resist-ance training program included 12 exercise stations (each: 30 s, intensity: 35% and 55% of 1-RM) for 8 weeks (3 sessions/week). Daily (500 mg) Zataria was used after breakfast by participants in ZG, ZT35%, and ZT55% groups. Blood samples were taken 48 h before and after the first and last sessions of training.

Results: After the training period the percentage of body fat decreased significantly (P < 0.001) in all trained groups, whereas muscle mass increased significantly (P < 0.01) only in T55% and ZT55% groups. A significant decrease was observed for RBP-4 values (P < 0.05) after training in all groups except for ZG and CG. Also, RBP-4 was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in all groups as compared to CG at the post-test except for ZG. Moreover, significantly lower values (P < 0.05) were found in T55%, ZT35%, and ZT55% as compared to ZG in post-intervention. TNF-α values decreased significantly (P < 0.05) at the post-test as compared to pre-intervention in ZT35% and ZT55%. Also, TNF-α was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in ZT55% compared to CG and T35% in post-test.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate clearly that in postmenopausal women, circuit resistance training both at low and moderate intensities cause a greater reduction in RBP-4 and TNF-α when Zataria is supplemented in the diet during training.

Keywords: Herbal supplementation; Retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP-4); Strength training; Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α); Women.

Grants and funding

R03 AR055262/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/United States