Exercise Increases Adiponectin Levels and Insulin Sensitivity in Humans

Adiponectin is an abundant circulating adipocytokine with anti-inflammatory properties (1) linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity (2–5). Numerous reports (3–5), including the present one, confirm plasma adiponectin levels to be inversely related to insulin resistance. Longer term, a rise in adiponectin has been shown to occur in response to weight loss and glitazone therapy, but not after chronic exercise training. However, understanding of the shorter-term regulation of adiponectin in particular remains unclear. As an extension to a previously reported exercise intervention in sedentary males by our group (6), we have now examined the effects of this training intervention on adiponectin levels in overweight males. We demonstrate that the short-term exercise training increased circulating adiponectin levels with accompanied improved insulin sensitivity. Twenty-six overweight males participated in an exercise program, as previously described (6). Full data were available on 19 subjects who completed the entire program. At …