The Effect of 8 Weeks of Moderate-Intensity Endurance Training on Serum Levels of Liver Enzymes and Insulin Resistance Index in Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and liver damage is one of its most important complications. In the present study, the effect of endurance training, was investigated on plasma concentrations of liver enzymes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and insulin resistance in women with type 2 diabetes.
In this quasi-experimental study, 18 female volunteers with type 2 diabetes (age, 45-55 years), were purposefully selected based on BMI and randomly divided into two experimental groups (n=9; age, 52.9±1.7 years; and BMI, 29± 3.2kg/m2) and control (n=9; age, 53.1±2.6 years; and BMI, 30±3.7kg/m2). The experimental group participated in endurance training for 8 weeks (three 40-60 minute sessions per week) with an intensity of 60-75% of maximum heart rate. Anthropometric characteristics, liver enzymes, and insulin resistance, were measured in fasting (48 hours before and after the experiment). Data were analyzed using paired and independent t-tests at a significance level of p In this study, 8 weeks of endurance training had no significant effect on the changes in plasma concentrations of ALT, AST, and improvement of insulin resistance. Also, no significant between-group difference, was observed (p>0.05).
Based on the results of this study, 8-week endurance training with an intensity of 60-75% of maximum heart rate had no effect on the values of liver enzymes and insulin resistance in women with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, given the decreasing trend in liver enzymes, increased duration of training can improve the results.