Effects of Eight Weeks of Aerobic Exercise on Visfatin, Homocystein, C - reactive protein and Lipid Profile in Sedentary Men

ABSTRACT           Background and objectives: Visfatin is a newly characterized adipokine, which is highly expressed in visceral adipose tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of aerobic exercise training on visfatin, homocystein, C-reactive protein and lipid profile in sedentary men.           Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 27 sedentary men were selected by convenience sampling method. The subjects were divided into a control group (n=13) and an aerobic training group (n=14). The subjects in the experimental group performed 60 minutes of aerobic exercise at 75-85% of maximum heart rate, three sessions per week for eight weeks. Data were analyzed in SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) using paired and independent sample t-test for comparison of means within and between groups, respectively. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.           Results: The eight-week aerobic exercise training significantly reduced body weight (P=0.02), body mass index (P=0.01) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (P=0.03) levels. It also caused a significant increase in the high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (P=0.00) and a significant decrease in visfatin levels (P=0.005). Serum homocysteine and C-reactive protein levels decreased by the end of the training program, but these changes were not statistically significant (P>0.05).           Conclusion: The eight-week aerobic exercise program could effectively improve lipid profile and visfatin levels. Therefore, this type of exercise could be recommended for prevention of cardiovascular disease and improvement of its risk factors.           Keywords: Aerobic, C-reactive protein, Exercise, Homocysteine.