Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of acute moderate and heavy exercises on adiponectin, leptin and insulin concentrations in untrained subjects.
Methods: Seven overweight middle-aged males participated in this study (age: 36.00 ± 5.16 years; body weight: 93.94 ± 6.48 kg; percent body fat: 26.64 ± 2.75%; Body Mass Index: 28.32 ± 1.74 kg.m2). They took part in two sub-maximal cycling exercises; moderate; 20 min cycling at 60% of peak aerobic power (PAP) and heavy: 20 min cycling at 80% of PAP. Venous blood samples were obtained before, after 30, 60 and 90 min recovery.
Results: Adiponectin concentrations were unchanged (P>0.05) after exercises. However, leptin was significantly decreased under resting values after 30 min (-12.74%, P=0.0023), 60 min (-11.66%, P=0.0084) and 90 min (-8.42%, P=0.0023) after the heavy exercise. Similarly, insulin was lowered after 90 min after the heavy exercise (-55.96%, P=0.014). Basal adiponectin during moderate exercise was significantly and negatively related to BMI (r=-0.778, P=0.033) and percent body fat (r=-0.897, P=0.0061).
Conclusion: In conclusion our results suggested that 20 min moderate or heavy sub-maximal exercises not stimulate the production and the release of adiponectin during 1.5 hour recovery post-acute exercises. Furthermore, it appears that after acute heavy exercise adiponectin is not associated with leptin or/and insulin modifications.