The effect of 5 months aerobic exercise training with and without Levothyroxine on serum cortisol, glucose, insulin and insulin resistance in subclinical hypothyroidism women

In patients with subclinical hypothyroidism the levels of cortisol decrease and the levels of glucose and insulin resistance increase. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 5 months aerobic exercise training with and without Levothyroxine on serum cortisol, glucose, insulin and insulin resistance in subclinical hypothyroidism women.

In this semi-experimental study, after obtaining written consent, 25 subclinical hypothyroidism women were divided into three groups: drug-exercise (n=8), exercise (n=7), and drug (n=10). Aerobic exercise training consisted of 3 sessions per week for 5 months with 50% maximal heart rate in the first week and 75% maximal heart rate in the last week. The drug group was inactive persons who took only one dose of 0.1 mg sodium Levothyroxine tablets daily. Serum levels of cortisol, fasting plasma sugar, insulin and insulin resistance were measured in three groups before and after 5 months. Data were analyzed using analysis of MANOVA.

The results of MANOVA and intergroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the three groups in the levels of plasma sugar (P=0.273), insulin (P=0.062), insulin resistance (P=0.070) and cortisol (P=0.123).

It seems that 5 months of aerobics exercise with and without Levothyroxine leads to non-significant changes in serum cortisol, plasma sugar, insulin and insulin resistance in subclinical hypothyroidism women.