The effect of aerobic exercise training on β-cell function and circulating levels of adipsin in community of obese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus

It has been suggested that adipsin might affect insulin secretion or glucose homeostasis, and thus, there can be a missing link between β-cell function, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. However, as yet, the function of adipsin has been unknown and needs to be evaluated over a longer term. The objective of this semi-experimental study was to compare the effect of aerobic exercise training on β-cell function and circulating levels of adipsin in obese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The T2DM women with fasting plasma glucose >126 mg/dl were targeted and chosen for further evaluations. Twenty-four women aged 35–50 years participated in the study. Subjects were divided in two groups of C and E standing for control and experimental groups, respectively (group C/ n = 12, group E/ n = 12). Anthropometric variable measurements, including fasting plasma glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, free fat acid (FFA), HOMA-IR, HOMA-β, and serum adipsin were obtained from the study samples. Following 8 weeks of aerobic training, serum adipsin levels did not alter in group E, whereas, the levels of HOMA-IR, fasting plasma glucose, weight, BMI, and percent body fat levels significantly changed in group E compared to the baseline. Other variables did not alter significantly. The study indicated that aerobic exercise training in T2DM patients had positive health effects especially on glycemic control and pancreatic β-cell function with no significant change in adipsin levels. However, adipsin is a newly identified immune regulator of metabolic diseases and more studies are needed to understand the signaling mechanisms of adipsin T2DM population.