Purpose: Obesity is associated with a chronic inflammatory condition, which plays an important role in the development of insulin resistance and disorder in appetite regulation. Resistance training (RT) can improve low-grade systemic inflammation caused by obesity by improving body composition. Hence, this study aimed to investigate whether RT with improvement in inflammatory status leads to improvement of metabolic markers and appetite-regulating peptides in obese women. Methods: Sixteen obese and healthy women were randomly divided into RT and control groups. The RT group participated in 8 weeks of RT. Blood samples and anthropometric characteristics were taken before the start of the exercise protocol and 3 days after the last training session. Serum levels of leptin, ghrelin, adiponectin, tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α), fasting glucose, insulin, and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were also measured. Results: After 8 weeks of training, body weight (BW) and body mass index (BMI) in the control group increased significantly (P < 0.01), but in the training group, anthropometric characteristics remained unchanged. Serum levels of ghrelin and leptin, adiponectin and tumour necrosis factor remained unchanged after 8 weeks of RT. A significant increase in insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance levels was observed in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that 8 weeks of RT is not enough to induce an anti-inflammatory response and improve body composition and subsequently improve appetite and metabolic markers.
