Saeid Shamlou Kazemi, Ali Heidarianpour, Hanieh Naddaf, Roya Nafaji-Vosough, Fereshteh Mehri, Homa Naderifar

SUMMARY
Background. The study aimed to assess the combined exercise effects of the Circulating Levels of microRNA-122 and weight Change in men with metabolic syndrome (MeS).
Methods. Forty men with MetS according to International Diabetes Federation criteria were randomized interventional and control groups. We investigated the effect of 12 weeks combined exercise on Levels of microRNA-122 and weight Change in this patients. Statistical analyzes were performed by independent t-test and paired t-test for continuous variables with normal distribution and Mann–Whitney, and Wilcoxson test for continuous variables with abnormal distribution.
Results. The results of the independent t-test and Mann–Whitney test showed that significant differences were observed between the two groups on the post-test in miRNA-122 (p < 0.001), BMI (p = 0.023), HbA1c (p < 0.001), TG (p = 0.015), HDL (p = 0.029), LDL (p = 0.043), and waist circumference (p = 0.029). In addition, in the intervention group, there were significant differences between pre and post-test in all of the studied variables (p < 0.05).
Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the protective effect of exercise might be due in part to reduced Levels of microRNA-122 and weight in metabolic syndrome and its components. Studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm this hypothesis.
Study registration. The research protocol was registered on the Iranian clinical trial registration website under the code of IRCT20170114031921N1.
KEY WORDS
microRNA-122; weight; combined exercise; metabolic syndrome.