The positive effect of moderate walking exercise on chemerin levels in Portuguese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
BACKGROUND
Physical exercise intervention is known to be crucial in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to evaluate, in patients with T2DM, the effect of regular moderate walking exercise on markers of oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, and inflammation.


METHODS
We studied 30 patients with T2DM who walked regularly during the last year and 53 patients with T2DM who did not perform any type of exercise. The patients were evaluated for chemerin, adiponectin, leptin, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.


RESULTS
The active T2DM patients showed significantly lower body mass index, as compared with the inactive patients. The active T2DM patients showed significantly lower levels of chemerin and CRP than those of the inactive T2DM patients (CRP lost significance after adjustment for body mass index). The active patients, compared with the inactive, presented a trend toward higher levels of adiponectin and lower values of oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Leptin differed significantly between sexes, and the active women presented a trend toward lower levels as compared with the inactive women.


CONCLUSIONS
In the patients with T2DM, the practice of moderate walking in a regular basis was sufficient to reduce chemerin levels, which suggests that practice of regular physical exercise should be encouraged.
From the *Centro de Investigação em Actividade Física, Saúde e Lazer (CIAFEL), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; †CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Gandra-PRD, Portugal; ‡Laboratório de Bioquímica, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia (FFUP); and §Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Maria João
MJ
Neuparth
Jorge Brandão
JB
Proença
Alice
A
Santos-Silva
Susana
S
Coimbra
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D018925:Chemokines; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C478630:RARRES2 protein, human