Effects of 12-week moderate aerobic exercise on ROCK2 activity, hs-CRP and glycemic index in obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Background: Obesity is a chronic low-grade inflammatory state that is related to prediabetes, increased Rhoassociated kinase 2 (ROCK2) activity and concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Therefore, the study was conducted to investigate the effects of 12-week moderate aerobic exercise on ROCK2 activity, hs-CRP, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), and glycemic index in obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Methods: In a quasi-experimental design with pre and post-test, 42 obese men with prediabetes [mean±SD, age: 44.73 ± 3.30 years, body mass index (BMI): 33.22 ± 2.05 kg/m, HbA1c: 6.29% ± 0.75] were allocated into two randomized homogeneous groups: Aerobic training group (AT, n = 22) or control group (C, n = 20). Exercise group performed a moderate aerobic exercise program three sessions per week, 60 min per session for 12 weeks. Body mass, BMI, maximal oxygen consumption (VOmax), serum levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-B); HbA1c, hs-CRP, or ROCK2 activity were measured before and after the study period. The data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA 2 × 2 and paired sample t-test at a significant level of p < 0.05.

Results: AT caused a significant reduction in body mass (p ≤ 0.001), BMI (p = 0.04), HOMA-B (p = 0.003), serum levels of FBG (p = 0.002), HbA1c (p = 0.039), hs-CRP (p ≤ 0.0001), and ROCK2 activity (p = 0.001). In contrast, in the same group, a significant increase was observed in VOmax (p = 0.04).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that moderate aerobic exercise was an effective and safe method to prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in obese men with prediabetes by improving glucose metabolism, reduction of body mass, ROCK2 activity and serum levels of hs-CRP.