effects of high intensity interval training and combined training on serum apelin levels and pancreatic β-cell function in overweight type 2 diabetes women

Objective: physical exercise is a well-established therapeutic method in type 2 diabetes treatment. the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of eight weeks combined and high intensity interval training on serum apelin levels and pancreatic β-cell function in overweight women with type 2 diabetes mellitus. materials and methods: fifty-two overweight female patients with type 2 diabetes (aged 45-60 years old, bmi> 30) with hba1c>6.5% participated in the study voluntarily. the participants were assigned to high intensity interval training (hiit) group (n= 17), combined training group (n= 17), and control group (n= 18) according to their hba1c levels. the exercises included 12 weeks of combined training and hiit. levels of hba1c and fasting glucose and insulin were measured. results: there was a significant decrease in the fasting blood glucose in the hiit groups (p-value: 0.001). serum insulin levels showed significant increases in the hiit (p-value: 0.001) and combined training groups (p-value: 0.001). changes in apelin level were not significantly different within hiit and combined training groups (p-value: 0.13 and 0.09, respectively). the data showed significant differences in pancreatic β-cells function in hiit (p < 0.001) and combined training groups (p= 0.003). furthermore, the ancova test showed that there were no significant differences in fasting blood glucose concentrations (f= 1.853, p-value: 0.171), apelin (f= 0.511, p-value: 0.12). however, significant differences were observed between groups in insulin (f= 3.622, p-value: 0.036), and β-cell function (f= 4.243, p-value: 0.003). conclusion: physical exercise is an effective training method to improve glycemic control in woman with type 2 diabetes.