Abstract

Purpose: Zataria is a plant with anti-inflammatory properties, which has been used for the treatment of many diseases. This study investigated the effect of different intensities of circuit resistance training and Zataria supplementation on plasma retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP-4) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in postmenopausal women. Methods: Seventy-two postmenopausal women were divided on randomized order into six groups: Control (McGinley and Bishop in J Appl Physiol 121(6):1290-1305, 2016), Training 35 (T35), Training 55 (T55), Zataria (Ozgunen et al. in Scand J Med Sci Sports 20:140-147, 2010), Zataria/Training 35 (ZT35), and Zataria/Training 55 (ZT55). Resist-ance training program included 12 exercise stations (each: 30 s, intensity: 35 and 55 of 1-RM) for 8 weeks (3 sessions/week). Daily (500 mg) Zataria was used after breakfast by participants in ZG, ZT35, and ZT55 groups. Blood samples were taken 48 h before and after the first and last sessions of training. Results: After the training period the percentage of body fat decreased significantly (P < 0.001) in all trained groups, whereas muscle mass increased significantly (P < 0.01) only in T55 and ZT55 groups. A significant decrease was observed for RBP-4 values (P < 0.05) after training in all groups except for ZG and CG. Also, RBP-4 was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in all groups as compared to CG at the post-test except for ZG. Moreover, significantly lower values (P < 0.05) were found in T55, ZT35, and ZT55 as compared to ZG in post-intervention. TNF-alpha values decreased significantly (P < 0.05) at the post-test as compared to pre-intervention in ZT35 and ZT55. Also, TNF-alpha was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in ZT55 compared to CG and T35 in post-test. Conclusions: The results demonstrate clearly that in postmenopausal women, circuit resistance training both at low and moderate intensities cause a greater reduction in RBP-4 and TNF-alpha when Zataria is supplemented in the diet during training.