Effects of exercise intensity on adiponectin levels in young healthy women

Abstract

Adiponectin is a protein secreted exclusively from adipose tissue, which is speculated to increase acute fatty acid oxidation rates. High-intensity exercise has been reported to have a greater capacity to increase absolute fat oxidation rates, as compared to low-intensity exercise. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the acute effects of exercise intensity on adiponectin levels in young healthy women. Nine healthy, moderately active women (age = 22 +/- 2 years, BMI = 22.1 +/- 21.5 kg/m 2; VO2peak = 43.9 +/- 4.0 ml O2/kg/min) performed in a randomized order three experimental sessions: control (C) with no exercise and two equicaloric (350 kcal), low-intensity (LIE) and moderate-to-high-intensity (M-HIE) exercise sessions on a treadmill at 40% and 70% VO2peak, respectively. Experimental sessions took place during the follicular phase of the participant's menstrual cycle; therefore, sessions were spread out by at least one-month. Plasma adiponectin levels were measured before, at 15-minutes, at 30-minutes, and post exercise session (LI/M-HI) or control session. The results indicated that plasma adiponectin levels were comparable across conditions and remained unchanged over time within each session. These findings suggest that plasma adiponectin levels do not seem to be acutely modulated during and immediately after exercise of varying intensity in young healthy women.