Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials in order to examine the effects of 8 weeks or more of aerobic exercise on lipids and lipoproteins in adults with Type 2 diabetes.
Methods: Studies were included if total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), ratio of TC to HDL-C (TC/HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), or all of the above, were assessed. A secondary outcome was glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1).
Results: Seven studies representing 220 men and women (112 exercise, 108 control) were available for pooling. Using a random-effects model, a statistically significant reduction of about 5% was found for LDL-C, whereas no statistically significant improvements were found for TC, HDL-C, TC/HDL-C or TG. A trend for a statistically significant reduction in HbA1 was also found.
Conclusions: Although our overall results suggest that aerobic exercise lowers LDL-C in adults with Type 2 diabetes, additional randomized-controlled trials are needed on this topic.