intense circuit resistance training along with zataria multiflora supplementation reduced plasma retinol binding protein-4 and tumor necrosis factor- in postmenopausal females

background: it is observed that the levels of retinol binding protein-4 (rbp-4) and cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) in people with obesity, diabetes and low physical activity, such as postmenopausal females, are more than those of the healthy individuals. objectives: the current study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of circuit resistance training (crt) and zataria multiflora supplementation(zmsuppl)onrbp-4andtnf-αinpostmenopausalfemales. methods: forty-eight untrained postmenopausal females participated in the study and were divided into four groups (n = 12) of control (con), crt, zmsuppl and crt along with zmsuppl (crt + zmsuppl). crt program included 12 stations (30 seconds for each station, 85% one repetition maximum) for eight weeks (three sessions/week). 500 mg of zmsuppl was consumed daily after breakfast in zmsuppl and crt + zmsuppl groups. blood samples were taken 48 hours before the first session and 48 hour after the last session of training to measure plasma rbp-4 and tnf-α. results: a significant reduction was observed in plasma tnf-α in the crt + zmsuppl group in comparison with con (p 0.05). in addition, a significant reduction was observed in plasma rbp-4 in both crt and crt + zmsuppl groups in comparison with con (p 0.01) and zmsuppl (p 0.01). conclusions: the current study showed that intense crt causes significant reduction only in plasma rbp-4; but this reduction was higher in rbp-4 and also in tnf-α, when zmsuppl was added to crt. therefore, it may be an effective method to reduce disorders and abnormalities related to inflammatory factors resulting from menopause.