8-Week Basic Military Training Improves Adiponectin Multimer Ratio in Healthy Young Males.

To investigate the effect of exercise on adiponectin in young healthy human males, we examined serum total adiponectin and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin in newly recruited male soldiers who participated in an 8-week basic military training (BMT). A total of 95 males (mean age, 18.79±1.50 years) were sampled from among 1,100 new male army recruits in China. Participants were separated into 3 groups according to their body mass index (BMI): overweight group (BMI: 24.9 kg/m2 to<30 kg/m2; n=26); normal-weight group (BMI: 18.5 kg/m2 to<24.9 kg/m2; n=40); and underweight group (BMI:<18.5 kg/m2; n=29). Anthropometric measurements, fasting serum total adiponectin, HMW adiponectin, and lipid profiles were recorded at baseline and at the end of the 8-week BMT. After the 8-week BMT, the HMW/total adiponectin ratio (HMW/total ratio) and HDL cholesterol improved significantly (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). HMW/total ratio showed significant correlations with HDL cholesterol. Our study suggests that an 8-week BMT can improve the HMW/total ratio in healthy young males regardless of their BMI and anthropometry. Both HMW/total ratio and HDL cholesterol can serve as potential biomarkers for assessing the efficacy of exercise and may have metabolic benefits for preventing obesity and obesity-related disease.