Metabolic changes in women with obesity undergoing high-intensity exercise associated with intermittent recovery hypoxia

Abstract

Obesity is characterized as a low-grade systemic inflammatory disease. With the increase in adipose tissue, several cytokines present alterations in their synthesis and secretion, resulting in endocrine imbalances. The cytokines that most influence this process are adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory cytokine that reduces its concentration during obesity, and pro-inflammatory cytokines: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-±) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), a significant increase in the face of obesity. The practice of physical activity is a non-pharmacological method that results in a reduction in the systemic inflammatory state, changing the lipid profile and levels of both anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines and improving the individual's physical capacity. Due to the high joint overload and muscle stress, water exercises are recommended for obese individuals as it maintains motor stimulation with low risk of injury. This way, tied running training in a deep pool, also known as Deep Water Running (DWR), will promote advantages similar to running on the ground, such as improving aerobic capacity, avoiding impact, and enabling exercise performance at high intensities with lower levels of fatigue. High-intensity exercise performance reduces the availability of oxygen to muscle cells, inducing the hypoxic environment, which leads to stabilization of the inductive hypoxia factor 1 (HIF-1), promoting gene transcription related to erythropoiesis and angiogenesis. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the effects of high-intensity physical exercise associated with recovery hypoxia, observing both the inflammatory and lipid profile and the physical capacity of grade I obese women. For this purpose, 45 women with obesity will participate in the study, divided into three groups: hypoxia, normoxia, and control. Everybody will perform body composition tests, food intake, hematological and lipid profile, plus serum cytokine quantification before and after the eight weeks of physical training. The deep water knotted running (DWR) training will be periodized, high-intensity interval, with recovery in hypoxia or normoxia. Intermittent recovery hypoxia is expected to act as an additive effect on muscle oxygen utilization, resulting in improved blood and lipid profile, aerobic capacity, and changes in the inflammatory profile in obese women. (AU)