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CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Nutr.

Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1513681

Impact of Using Supplemented Thylakoids Derived from Spinach for 12 Weeks of High-Intensity Functional Training on adipo-myokines in obese males

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Islamic Azad university, Amol, Iran
  • 2Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 3University of Tabriz, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran
  • 4Islamic Azad University System, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
  • 5California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States
  • 6Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 7University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran
  • 8University of Rennes M2S (Laboratoire Mouvement, Sport, Santé), Rennes, France
  • 9University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: This randomized controlled study investigated the independent and combined effects of High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) and spinach-derived thylakoid supplementation on adipo-myokines, glycemic control, and lipid profiles in obese males. To compare the effects of HIFT alone, thylakoid supplementation (Thyl) alone, and their combination (HIFT+Thyl) on circulating adipokines (CTRP-2, CTRP-9, GDF-8, GDF-15), insulin resistance, and lipid profiles in obese adult males.Methods: A total of 68 participants who were obese with BMI: 32.6 ± 2.6 kg/m2 were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 17 in each group): thylakoid supplementation (Thyl), HIFT + Placebo High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT), HIFT + thylakoid supplementation (HIFT+Thyl), and control+Placebo group (C). The training groups (HIFT and HIFT+Thyl) completed a 12week program of three 60-minute sessions per week. Participants in the Thyl and HIFT+Thyl groups dissolved and consumed 5 g/day of spinach extract high in thylakoids (or placebo) for 12 weeks. Baseline and post-intervention measurements included circulating C1Q/TNF or TGFβ related proteins (CTRP-2, CTRP-9, GDF-8, GDF-15), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, plasma glucose, and insulin), lipid profile (HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides [TG], total cholesterol [TC]), and body composition (BMI, fat mass [FM], and fat-free mass [FFM]). Randomization was performed using a block randomization method with allocation concealment.Results: There were significant group x time interactions for all variables (all p < 0.001): CTRP-9 (η² = 0.6), CTRP-2 (η² = 0.7), GDF-8 (η² = 0.8), GDF-15 (η² = 0.4), BMI (η² = 0.45), FM (η² = 0.42), HDL-C (η² = 0.37), LDL-C (η² = 0.34), TC (η² = 0.46), TG (η² = 0.66), insulin (η² = 0.78), glucose (η² = 0.5), and HOMA-IR (η² = 0.7). Compared with baseline, all interventions (HIFT, Thyl, and HIFT+Thyl) significantly decreased adipokine levels (CTRP-9, CTRP-2, GDF-8, GDF-15), BMI, fat mass, LDL-C, TC, TG, insulin, glucose, and HOMA-IR, while increasing HDL-C (all p < 0.05). Post-hoc between-group comparisons showed that HIFT+Thyl resulted in significantly greater improvements in all adipo-myokines, lipid profile, glycemic and insulin control, and body fat compared to Thyl alone (all p < 0.05). HIFT and HIFT+Thyl showed comparable reductions in BMI, fat mass, and improvements in lipid profile and insulin sensitivity.

Keywords: High-intensity functional training, Spinach-derived thylakoid, Adipokines, Insulin Resistance, Obesity

Received: 01 Nov 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Abbassi Dalloii, Hoteit, Sadek, Rand, Ramezani, Pashaei, Afshar, Escobar, Supriya, Saeidi, ZOUHAL and Alkhatib. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ayoub Saeidi, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, 66177-15177, Kurdistan, Iran

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