Investigating the Effect of Eight Weeks of Pilates Training in Combination with Probiotic Supplementation on some Inflammatory Markers in Overweight Women

This study aims at investigating the effect of eight weeks of Pilates training in combination with probiotic supplementation on C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase (CK) and lactate d ehydrogenase (LDH) levels and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in overweight women.
40 overweight women in the age range of 23-25 years were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to four groups of probiotic supplementation (N = 10), Pilates training (N = 10), combined (N = 10), and placebo (N = 10). The blood samples were obtained in the basal state and after eight weeks of training to measure CK, LDH, CRP and ESR. In addition, T-test, ANCOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test were used to analyze the study variables.
A significant decrease was observed in CRP level and ESR in the Pilates, probiotic and combined groups (P = 0.001). Also, a significant decrease was observed in CK level in the Pilates and combined groups (intra-group) (P = 0.001), and LDH significantly decreased only in the combined group (P = 0.001). In the control group, a significant increase was observed in the CRP level (P = 0.001). Also, according to the results of ANCOVA, there was a significant difference among the groups in terms of creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and CRP levels and ESR (P = 0.001). Based on the results of post hoc test, the combined group showed the highest decrease in these markers.
Based on the res ults of the present study, although Pilates training and probiotic supplementation each by itself can be effective in reducing inflammation, their combination can lead to much better results.