Comparison of the Effect of Low-Calorie Diet and Exercise on Leptin and Adiponectin in Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Leptin and adiponectin are adipokines produced by fat cells and play an important role in obesity. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of low-calorie diet (LCD) and exercise (Exe) on leptin and adiponectin in middle-aged and elderly adults with overweight and obesity.

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Google scholar databases for English and Persian articles published until August 2023. The effect size and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using the random effect model.

The results of 25 studies with 2063 middle-aged and elderly people with overweight and obesity showed that the combination of exercise and diet compared to exercise alone causes a significant decrease in serum leptin [SMD=-0.4, P=0.001], and a significant increase in serum adiponectin [SMD=0.17, P=0.02] in middle-aged and elderly adults with overweight and obesity. Also, findings showed that the diet compared to exercise alone causes a decrease in serum leptin [SMD=-0.16, P=0.1], and a significant increase in serum adiponectin [SMD=0.05, P=0.7] in middle-aged and elderly adults with overweight and obesity. Also, diet compared to exercise alone does not cause a significant change in serum leptin [SMD=-0.11, P=0.2], and serum adiponectin [SMD=0.02, P=0.8] in middle-aged and elderly adults with overweight and obesity.

It is suggested that middle-aged and elderly people to achieve hypoleptinemia and hyperadiponectinemia, use a combination Include exercise training and low-calorie diet in your lifestyle.