Study design and subjects
The inclusion criteria for the study included: 1. Girls with precocious puberty; 2. Having a BMI higher than 19; 3.The age range of 7 to 9 years; 4. taking about one year before a diagnosis had been made; 5. Being on medication for one year; 6. Being treated with Differlin drug ; 7. Taking medication 1 ml every 28 days.
The exclusion criteria in the study included: 1. having another illness; 2. taking another medicine; 3. having a special diet; 4. being active in another sport; 5. being connected to drugs.
Finally, out of the 46 overweight and obese girls with precocious puberty, 36 were selected and randomly divided into two groups: The exercise group (EX) performed 12 weeks of combined training (n=18), and the control group (CON) did not receive any exercise (n=18). But some left the program during the investigation and finally 30 people were analyzed. (Fig 1). All the patients completed the written consent form of participation in the study. The research was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences on 14th of Nov, 2015 with proprietary ID IR.UMSHA.REC.1394.366.
Measuring the basic indicators
Height and weight of the children were measured by the children’s stadiometer of the German SSA 216 and Beurer GS20, respectively. Their age was recorded by asking from their parents. Heart rate was measured by POLAR beacon meter. BMI was calculated by dividing weight by height squared (kg/m2) and was analyzed based on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control reference) [33]. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured with a Buerer Barometer. Peak oxygen uptake (Vo2peak) was measured by a 6-minute walk test (6MWT) that measures the maximal distance in which a person can walk in 6 minutes [34]. This test has already been performed and has been validated on children [35]. BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, vo2peak, bone age, uterine lengths, ovarian volumes were measured before and after exercise and also after the detraining period in exercise group. All of the above were measured in the control group in all three occasions.
Measuring blood samples
After measuring anthropometric indices and other primary specifications, all the patients attended the laboratory for blood sampling. To measure biochemical variables 24 hours before the training program, blood sampling was carried out by a laboratory specialist in the morning; 6cc of blood samples were taken from the participants. The ESTBIOPHARM company kit of China with 0.023 ng/ml degree of sensitivity and ELISA method were used to measure adiponectin serum levels. To measure resistin serum levels, we used ESTBIOPHARM company kit of China with a 10.23 ng/ml degree of sensitivity and the ELISA method. To measure TNF-α serum levels, we used BOSTER company kit of Canada with a 1 pg/ml degree of sensitivity and ELISA method. Plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were measured by enzymatic procedures [36,37]. The estimation of High-density lipoprotein (HDL) was performed using the method described by Burstein et al. [38] while the method used by Assman et al. was adopted in determining low-density lipoprotein (LDL) [39]. LH and FSH were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (DxI800 automated chemiluminescence assay and commercial kit; Beckman Coulter, Inc., CA, USA) with sensitivity of 0.2 IU/L. To remove the effect of the last training session, forty-eight hours after the last exercise session, blood samples were measured in patients in the exercise group to evaluate the effect of the exercise program on the mentioned biochemical indices. 4 weeks after the end of the exercise, the third blood sampling was performed. The reason for choosing 4 weeks of detraining was that the results indicated that although 2 weeks of detraining is not long enough to completely eliminate the beneficial effects of regular exercise, continued detraining may lead to damaging effects [40]. All of the above were measured in the control group in all three occasions.
Intervention
The 3-month intervention in exercise group involved a physical activity program with 3 60-min sessions/week without any dietary intervention. Exercise sessions were controlled by 2 experienced physical education teachers and consisted of 30 min of aerobic exercise (fast walking, running, ball games) at a heart rate corresponding to 55% to 65% of individual maximal cardio-respiratory fitness (based on baseline maximal oxygen consumption [VO2max] measures by 6MWT), followed by 20 min of strengthening exercises and 10 min of stretching and cool-down. Children wore a heart rate monitor (Polar S610, Kempele, Finland) during each training session, and watch alarms warned them if the heart rate was too low (55% VO2max) or too high (65%VO2max). The aerobic period was followed by strengthening exercises of the arms, legs, and trunk (2 to 3 series of 10 to 15 repetitions), with the resistance being provided by the child’s body weight and elastic bands [41]. The control group did not receive any interventions and was asked to protect the current level of physical activity during the first 3 months. After the 3-month intervention, we asked participants not to participate in any exercise programs for 4 weeks.
Statistical analysis
The Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used to specify the normal distribution of the data. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures and Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the difference between groups and within groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was analyzed to examine the relationship between some parameters. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 software. The results are expressed as mean ± the standard deviation (SD). Differences were judged to be statistically different at P< 0.05.