Abstract
Abdominal obesity predominates in menopausal women (MW) and contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS). It is associated with increased mortality related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and fatty liver disease. The effects of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) on body composition and the blood concentration of irisin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive proteins (CRP) in MW with MetS and in healthy women (HW), were assessed. The study included 19 women with MetS (61.53 ± 3.99 y, BMI 30.09 ± 4.98 kg/m2) and 18 HW (60.28 ± 3.63 y, BMI 25.50 ± 2.37 kg/m2) who were subjected to 20 WBC treatments at −130 °C for 3 min daily. In both groups, body mass (BM), BMI, abdominal circumference, triceps skinfold, total fat mass and percentage of leg fat significantly decreased after 20 WBC sessions. Additionally, the percentage of total, trunk and android fat in the MetS group were significantly decreased after 20 WBC applications. Waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) significantly decreased in both groups, and in the HW group, hip circumference and abdominal skinfold also significantly decreased after 10 WBC and 20 WBC treatments. In both groups, the concentration of plasma irisin significantly increased after 1 WBC and 10 WBC exposures, while the concentration of IL-6 significantly increased only in MetS group after 10 WBC and 20 WBC, and were significantly higher than in HW. CRP concentrations were significantly higher in the MetS group than in HW before 1 WBC, after 1 WBC and 10 WBC sessions, but not after 20. In the MetS group, there were significant negative correlations between the change in irisin level and the changes in WC and BM, and between the level of irisin and the change in percentage of total fat, and significant negative correlations between the change in IL-6 level and changes in WC, waist-to-hip ratio and WHtR. Whole-body cryotherapy, assuming the application of 20 treatments in the series, reduces abdominal obesity in menopausal women indirectly through the secretion of irisin and IL-6, and can be used as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of metabolic syndrome. Our conclusion is limited to menopausal women with low–moderate physical activity for whom its level as well as diet were not changed during the treatment.
Highlights
Obesity, defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health, is a serious global problem [1]
A significant effect of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) was noted (ANOVA Treatment, large effect size) on changes in BM (η2 = 0.17, p = 0.001), Body Mass Index (BMI) (η2 = 0.17, p = 0.001) and total body fat mass (η2 = 0.19, p = 0.001), as well as in the percentage value of fat in the lower limbs (η2 = 0.14, p = 0.006), while a medium effect size was observed for changes in percentage value of fat content in total body mass (η2 = 0.09, p = 0.036) as well as in the abdominal area (η2 = 0.08, p = 0.049) and trunk (η2 = 0.06, p = 0.113) (Table 3)
After 20 WBC treatments, in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) group and in the group of healthy women, significant reductions were noted in BM (−0.56: 95% CI −1.20; 0.08 and −0.67: 95% CI −0.98; −0.35, respectively), BMI (−0.24: 95% CI −0.49; 0.02 and −0.25: 95% CI −0.37; 0.14, respectively) and total fat mass (−0.50: 95% CI −0.93; −0.07 and −0.51: 95% CI −0.89; −0.12, respectively), as well as in the percentage of fat in the lower limbs (−0.55: 95% CI −1.01; −0.09 and −0.51: 95% CI −1.10; 0.09, respectively)
Summary
Obesity, defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health, is a serious global problem [1]. The prevalence of overweightness (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 in adults has increased among men from 25.4% in 1980 to 38.5% and 10.1% (respectively) in 2015, while among women, from 27.8% and 8.9% to 39.4% and 14.8%, respectively [3]. The increase in BMI and total body mass, which consists of fat mass and the remaining tissues (lean body mass), is mainly due to an increase of fat in the abdominal area. In this period, the amount of visceral fat among women increases by over 40%, and the amount of subcutaneous fat in the abdominal region by about 20% [6]. Abdominal obesity is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, especially osteoarthritis, and some cancers (including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon) [1]
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