Endurance Exercise Alters Cellular Immune Status and Resistin Concentrations in Men Suffering from Non-insulin-dependent Type 2 Diabetes

It has been demonstrated that alterations of adipocytokines can alter immune status in type 2 diabetes. The present study investigated changes of adipocytokine plasma concentrations and cellular immune status in overweight men, suffering from non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetes (n = 14, age 61.0 +/- 8.7 years, BMI 31.1 +/- 3.5 kg/cm(2)). Subjects underwent a 3 months endurance exercise intervention (twice per week for up to 45 min) cycling at a heart rate corresponding to a 2 mmol/l lactate threshold. Before and after the intervention testing for adipocytokines (leptin, adiponectin, resistin) and cellular immune status (including T memory-cells and regulative T-cells) was performed by RIA and FACS accordingly. The exercise intervention improved anthropometric and metabolic parameters of all subjects. We observed a significant decline for resistin and for the CD19(+) B-cells. The CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) Treg-cells decreased, however not statistically significant. All other parameters remained unchanged. In conclusion, even though only training twice a week, the exercise affected parts of the cellular immune system as well as resistin levels in men suffering from non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetes.