The Effect of Rhythmic Aerobic Exercise and Green Tea Supplementation on Visfatin Levels and Metabolic Risk Factors in Obese Diabetic Women

Background: Visfatin is protein with insulin-like function that is expressed in high levels in visceral fat tissue and its circulating levels is associated with obesity and diabetes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 10 weeks of rhythmic aerobic exercise and green tea supplementation on visfatin levels and insulin resistance in obese type II diabetic women. Methods: 46 obese diabetic women (BMI>30) 45 -60 years old were selected and randomly assigned into four groups of green tea (n=12), aerobics + green tea (n=12), aerobics (n=12) and control (n=10) groups. Subjects in green tea supplementation group received 1500 mg capsules containing green tea extract daily for 10 weeks. Also exercises were performed three sessions a week in a ten week period. The analysis of variance with Tukey test and dependent t-test were used to within and between groups analysis. Results: The results showed that visfatin have significant difference between groups (P=0.001) however, there was no significant difference between interventions. Also, there was no significant differences between interventions for HOMA, insulin and glucose. Conclusion: Although there are no significant differences between interventions, significant reduction of visfatin after aerobic exercise and consumption of green tea may be due to improvements in glycemic index and weight loss and the HOMA index. Therefore, it seems that supplementation with green tea along with aerobic exercise may influence weight control and improved glycemic index in type II diabetic patients.