The effects of exercise on C-reactive protein, insulin, leptin and some cardiometabolic risk factors in Egyptian children with or without metabolic syndrome

The study covered 49 normal children (control), 32 obese children without metabolic syndrome and 12 obese children with metabolic syndrome. We examined the influence of exercise (3 times/week) for 12？weeks on the levels of serum CRP, leptin, insulin, homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in all groups.There were significant correlations between HOMA-IR and the individual components of the metabolic syndrome. After 12？weeks of exercise, both of the obese children groups, with and without metabolic syndrome, showed reduced body weight, body mass index (BMI), and CRP level, and increased HDL-C level. The percentage of metabolic syndrome decreased from 12.9% before the exercise training to 7.5% after training. Also, there was a significant reduction in BMI (from 47.3 to 32.6%), in systolic blood pressure (from 18.3 to 15.1%) and in HDL-C level (from 18.3 to 9.7%).Overweight children have multiple risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome. 12-week exercise may have a positive effect on reducing risk factors for the metabolic syndrome.Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease risk factors that include glucose intolerance, hypertension, elevated TG, low HDL-C, and obesity [1]. This clustering has been shown to occur not only in adults but also in adolescents [2]. Although the metabolic syndrome is particularly important in adults, the pathological processes and risk factors have been shown to begin during childhood [3].This syndrome continues to increase in both developed and developing countries, and has already become a major threat to the global public health [4].The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the children and the adolescents is relatively low; about 4% [5]. When compared to the adult population (24%), except amongst the overweight and obese adolescents where the prevalence o