Effect of walking with a pedometer on serum lipid and adiponectin levels in Japanese middle-aged men.
OBJECTIVE
To clarify the effects of walking with a pedometer on metabolic parameters, including adiponectin (APN).


METHODS
We recruited 44 male Japanese volunteers (age, 37 +/- 9 yrs; body mass index (BMI), 24.2 +/- 2.9 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 96 +/- 11 mg/dL; total cholesterol (TC) 190 +/- 26 mg/dL; triglycerides (TG) 119 +/- 80 mg/dL; HDL-C56 +/- 14 mg/dL). Subjects were instructed to walk with a pedometer and record the number of steps they walked every day for 50 days. Serum adiponectin (APN) levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Treatment effects were examined by Wilcoxon's rank test.


RESULTS
The average number of steps was 8211 +/- 2084 per day. There were significant reductions in BMI, sBP, TG and TNF-alpha levels after 50 days, but no changes in adiponectin levels. We then divided the subjects into 2 groups according to the steps walked per day, namely, more than 8000 steps (MT group, n = 22) and less than 8000 steps (LT group, n = 22) and found that the reduction in TG and BP was observed only in the MT group.


CONCLUSIONS
Walking with a pedometer is effective for improving metabolic parameters, such as TG and blood pressure, but is not sufficient to increase adiponectin levels in Japanese men.
Kobayashi
Junji
J
Department of Lifestyle-related disease, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan. junji@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Murase
Yuko
Y
Asano
Akimichi
A
Nohara
Atsushi
A
Kawashiri
Masa-aki
MA
Inazu
Akihiro
A
Yamagishi
Masakazu
M
Mabuchi
Hiroshi
H
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism; D016138:Walking
D052242:Adiponectin; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides