Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of 8-week aerobic training (AT) and saffron supplementation on inflammation and metabolism in middle-aged obese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Thirty-two obese women with T2DM were randomly divided into four groups (n = 8 in all groups): saffron + training (ST), placebo + training (PT), saffron supplementation (SS), and placebo (P). The ST and PT groups performed eight weeks of aerobic training (AT) (three sessions/week at 60–75% HRmax). A daily dose of 400 mg saffron powder was consumed by the ST and SS groups for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken after 12 h of fasting, 48 h before the first AT session, 48 h and two weeks after the last AT session. Results: AT, saffron supplementation, and their combination affected body mass index (BMI), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and serum levels of insulin, adiponectin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) (p < 0.05). However, body weight, body fat percentage, and serum levels of glucose, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), irisin, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) showed significant changes in the ST group only (p < 0.05). In addition, a significant difference was seen between all factors in post-training and follow-up in the ST group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Saffron supplementation at a dose of 400 mg/day, when combined with AT, could improve inflammation, metabolism, glycemic status, and lipid profile in T2DM patients, and these changes are sustainable at up to 2 weeks of detraining.

Exercise can ameliorate cardiovascular dysfunctions in the diabetes condition, but its precise molecular mechanisms have not been entirely understood. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of endurance training on expression of angiogenesis-related genes in cardiac tissue of diabetic rats. Thirty adults male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (N = 10) including diabetic training (DT), sedentary diabetes (SD), and sedentary healthy (SH), in which diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). Endurance training (ET) with moderate-intensity was performed on a motorized treadmill for six weeks. Training duration and treadmill speed were increased during five weeks, but they were kept constant at the final week, and slope was zero at all stages. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was used to measure the expression of myocyte enhancer factor-2C (MEF2C), histone deacetylase-4 (HDAC4) and Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in cardiac tissues of the rats. Our results demonstrated that six weeks of ET increased gene expression of MEF2C significantly (p < 0.05), and caused a significant reduction in HDAC4 and CaMKII gene expression in the DT rats compared to the SD rats (p < 0.05). We concluded that moderate-intensity ET could play a critical role in ameliorating cardiovascular dysfunction in a diabetes condition by regulating the expression of some angiogenesis-related genes in cardiac tissues.

Background: Increasing inflammatory markers of CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 leads to increasing cardiovascular disease. Change in lifestyle represents a successful strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of Pilates training on serum levels of IL-6, CRP and TNF-α in inactive overweight women. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 28 volunteer overweight women (with average BMI of 27.2, 1.1± kg/m2) participated. They were randomly divided into training group (n=14) and control group (n=14). Pilates exercise training was performed during 12 weeks (3 sessions per week, 60 min per session). Blood samples were collected in two stages, 48 hours before and 48 hours after the last exercise after 12-14 hours fasting status. During the 12 weeks, the control group had no exercise training. Results: In within group comparsion, only serum levels of CRP in the training group was significantly decreased (P=0.048) and in between group comparsion there were no significant difference in serum levels of CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 in training group compare to control group (P>0.05). Conclusion: However, from statistical point of view there was no significant difference between the two groups. It can be said that the implementation of Pilates training can have beneficial effects on serum levels of some inflammatory markers in this way reduced CRP in inactive women with overweight. Lowering serum CRP levels is with reducing body fat and improving body composition. So physical activity can be considered as an essential part of the lifestyle of adults.

Background: Mitochondrial function is an integral part of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells and is a hallmark feature of cardiovascular disease. It may contribute to the pathophysiology of diabetic cardiomyopathy and atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), combined ...