Leptin responses to long-term cardiorespiratory exercise training without concomitant weight loss: a prospective...

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Endocrinology
• Metabolic Health

Background:

• Leptin is a key hormone regulating appetite and energy balance.
• Previous studies suggest exercise training alters leptin levels, often linked to weight loss.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if aerobic exercise training affects circulating leptin levels without causing weight loss.
• To determine if gender influences leptin response to exercise.
• To examine the relationship between age and leptin, and its impact on exercise response.

Main Methods:

• 38 healthy sedentary adults (18-59 years) underwent 6 months of supervised moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (4 days/week).
• Participants maintained usual dietary intake to minimize weight loss.
• Fasting leptin, body mass, body fat percentage, and maximal aerobic power (VO2max) were measured pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• No significant changes in body weight or fasting leptin concentrations were observed.
• Gender did not influence the response of leptin to exercise training.
• A significant inverse relationship between leptin and age emerged after controlling for body fat percentage and VO2max, but age did not affect leptin response to exercise.

Conclusions:

• Changes in leptin concentration following exercise training may be primarily due to associated weight loss.
• Age does not appear to be a significant factor in how leptin levels respond to aerobic exercise training in the absence of weight loss.