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Background and objectives: Elevated blood lipids and physical inactivity are known risk factors of atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to compare effects of four weeks of high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) and continuous walking on atherogenic indices of obese middle-aged men.
Methods: Study population consisted of 36 male teachers aged 35-50 years, with mean body mass index (BMI) of 30.7 ± 3.5 kg/m² who were working in the city of Galikesh, northeastern Iran. The subjects were enrolled via purposeful sampling and were randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group. Before and after the intervention, anthropometric characteristics (height, weight and BMI) and blood pressure of each subject were measured. Fasting blood samples were taken from the left brachial vein 12 hours before the first exercise session and 12 hours after the last exercise session to determine lipid profile. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 at significance level of 0.05.
Results: The four-week walking exercise significantly decreased serum levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) (P=0.001) and triglyceride (P=0.001). In addition, the HIIT program significantly increased high-density lipoprotein level (HDL-C) (P=0.004) and significantly reduced LDL-C (P=0.049), LDL/HDL (P=0.002), triglyceride (p=0.01), BMI (P=0.027) and blood pressure (P=0.002). In addition, the results of ANOVA and (Scheffe test) showed a significant increase in HDL-C (P=0.042) values and a significant decrease in VLDL-C (P=0.032), LDL/HDL (P=0.041), triglyceride (P=0.024), BMI (P=0.048) and blood pressure (P=0.016) of HIIT group compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Our findings indicated that HIIT has beneficial effects on some risk factors of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

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Background and objectives: The prevalence of obesity and overweight in women is increasing. Secretion of adipokines such as vaspin may affect insulin sensitivity. It has been suggested that physical activity can alter circulating vaspin levels. The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of six weeks of aerobic interval training on serum vaspin and blood glucose levels in obese inactive girls.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 22 inactive overweight girls were selected from the Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. The mean age, weight and body mass index of the subjects were 24.22±1.35 years, 83.77±12.66 kg and 32.56±3.36 kg/m², respectively.  The subjects were randomly divided into an experimental group )n=11) and a control group )n=11). The experimental group performed aerobic training on stationary bicycle at 65-80% of maximal strength, three sessions a week for six weeks. Serum levels of vaspin and glucose were measured using commercial kits. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 23) and at significance of 0.05.
Results: The training intervention had no significant impact on the serum vaspin and glucose concentrations (P>0.05). In addition, the covariance analysis showed that serum vaspin and glucose levels did not differ significantly between the study groups (P>0.05).  
Conclusion: Based on the results, the six-week aerobic interval training had no significant effect on vaspin and blood glucose levels of inactive obese girls. It is recommended to further examine the effect of this type of exercise at higher intensities and for longer durations.

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Background and objectives: Previous investigations have shown that physical activity can improve insulin sensitivity and body composition by reducing the concentration of inflammatory biomarkers. The study aimed at evaluating effects of eight weeks of resistance training and high-intensity interval training on adropin, blood glucose markers, and body composition in overweight females.
Methods: sixteen overweight females (mean age: 30 ± 4.3 years and body mass index= 29 ± 2.6 kg/m²) were randomly assigned to a resistance training group (n=8) and a high-intensity interval training group (n=8). Participants in both groups trained three times a week for eight weeks. Body composition and serum level of blood markers were determined at baseline and after the last training session.
Results: Body mass, body fat percentage, and waist-hip ratio decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.05). VO_2max significantly increased in both groups, while the changes in the resistance training group were greater than in the high-intensity interval training group (p<0.05). Insulin and HOMA-IR concentrations decreased significantly in the resistance training group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Eight weeks of both training procedures could significantly decrease body composition markers. However, the training duration was not sufficient to alter fating blood sugar or adropin concentrations.

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Background: Omentin-1 plays an important role in insulin function. Despite numerous studies, the effect of interval training on this adipokine is still vague. This study aimed to elucidate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on serum glucose, insulin, insulin resistance (IR), omentin-1 serum levels, and gene expression in the visceral adipose tissue in type 2 diabetic (T2D) rats.
Methods: In an experimental study, 20 male rats (8-10 weeks, weight: 250-270 g) were randomly divided into 2 groups: diabetic control (N=10) and diabetic training (N=10). The training protocol was 30 minutes of HIIT (1-min run, 2-min rest) performed 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Fasting blood glucose, insulin resistance, omentin-1 serum level, and gene expression were measured in the visceral fat 48 hours after the last exercise for both groups.
Results: The HIIT resulted in lower serum glucose and insulin resistance (P = 0.001), higher serum omentin-1 levels (P = 0.001), and higher visceral fat gene expression (P = 0.004) in the training group compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Lower serum glucose and insulin resistance and higher omentin-1 serum levels and gene expression in the training group can prove the effectiveness of HIIT training in T2D, although further research is required.