Effect of Physical Exercise on Cardio Metabolic Risk in Mexican Adolescents with Metabolic Syndrome

on first Mexico. Cardio metabolic risk is greater in adolescents with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Physical exercise has proven to be a therapeutic tool in the management of MetS. The objective was to analyze the effect that moderate intensity physical exercise for 12 weeks has on components of MetS and cardiometabolic risk in adolescents in southeastern Mexico. Methodology. Quasi-experimental design. Thirty-six adolescents with MetS performed aerobic exercise for 12 weeks. Was determined at the beginning and end of the intervention: abdominal obesity, hypertension, B-pancreatic cell function, atherogenic risk, excess weight, and excess body fat, among other risks. Data were analyzed with t-Student, square chi and bivariate analysis. Results, exercise significantly lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001), triglycerides (P=0.01) and insulin resistance (P=0.007). Increased B-pancreatic cell function (P=0.02). At the end of intervention 32 adolescents (84%) recovered from MetS. Conclusion, physical exercise reverses MetS on Mexican adolescents and reduces cardiometabolic risk. Abbreviations: cardiovascular atherogenic index. AIP, plasma atherogenic index. Statistical, square chi or Fisher test.


Introduction
The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a set of dysfunctions and disorders that increase the risk of developing chronic diseases mainly of cardiovascular and metabolic type, such as diabetes mellitus, coronary disease, stroke and others that currently in adolescents includes elevated blood pressure levels, increased waist circumference, increased triglyceride levels and fasting glycaemia, as well as decreased HDL cholesterol [4]. There are several guidelines for diagnosis MetS in adolescents. The diagnosis must be adjusted with age and sex [5], since adolescence is a period of rapid growth, in addition to the dimorphic effect of sex hormones on fat tissue [6]. Cardiometabolic risk is the likelihood that a person will have cardiovascular damage, it can be determined with different mathematical models based on the numbers of certain metabolites such as insulin, lipid profile, glycemia and others.
Among the main indicators of cardiometabolic risk are: insulin resistance or insensitivity, pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and atherogenic risk, which represent a poor prognosis for health [7,8].
MetS can be treated with different therapeutic approaches, such as lifestyle modification, pharmacological treatments and even surgical interventions [9]. Physical exercise is one of the strategies that have been successfully used to manage MetS and some other metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and obesity [10]. Some publications have reported that exercise reverses MetS [11,12] having therapeutic effects on its components, however others have found no effects on MetS, but they report benefits in other metabolites such as adipokines and other inflammatory markers [13,14]. This controversy may be related to the type and duration of exercise. Physical exercise is an accessible activity for most people, it is economic, and it can also have a recreational component, which tends to be attractive to adolescents and to improve adherence to treatment, which is one of the keys to therapeutic success [15]. In Mexico, some studies have estimated that the highest prevalence of MetS in adolescents is found in the southeast of the country, probably due to the high rates of obesity and overweight in this same region [16,17] and make it necessary to implement therapeutic strategies to improve health in this population group.
The goal of the present study was to analyze the effect that moderate intensity physical exercise for 12 weeks has on components of MetS and cardiometabolic risk in adolescents in southeastern Mexico.

Methodology
Quasi-experimental study was conducted on adolescents with MetS in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. MetS components and cardiometabolic risks were analyzed before and after physical exercise model. Sample selection. Adolescents aged 15 to 18 registered in high schools were invited to participate in the study.
Was a non-probabilistic sample of 313 adolescents that accepted to participate through the letters of assent and informed consent.  We classified as excess weight those values equal to or greater than the 85 th percentile that include overweight and obesity, according to the Official Mexican Standard NOM-047-SSA2-2015 [18]. Body fat was classified as normal or excess, considering age and sex, according to the cut-off points for pediatric patients mentioned by McCarthy et al. [19] Waist circumference was determined with SECA® brand tape at the navel level at the end of a normal exhalation and was expressed in centimeters [4]. was less than 150% [22]. HOMA-S Index. Represents the HOMA model of insulin sensitivity and is used to provide information about glucose metabolism, this value was calculated as 1 HOMA-IR x 100. Values > 54.1 for women and > 46.1 for men indicated insulin insensitivity [23]. Triglyceride/glucose index is an indicator of insulin resistance which was determined with the natural log of triglycerides (mg/dL) x glucose (mg/dL)/2. The criteria used was 8.8 for men and 8.7 for women [8] Indicator triglycerides/HDL-c was calculated with the ratio triglycerides (mg/dL)/HDL-c(mg/ dL), the limit value was 3.1 for men and 2.2 for women (8). Plasma atherogenic index was calculated using the log(TG/HDL-c) formula.
Values 0.11 or > were considered to be at risk [24]. Cardiovascular atherogenic index was determined with the HOMA-IR x TG/HDLc formula. Value > 28 is considered to be at risk.

Results
MetS prevalence on the population was 14.69%, with average age of 15.4 ±.6 years. (Table 1)

Discussion
The present study focused on evaluating the effect of physical exercise in adolescents with MetS and their cardiometabolic risk. The reduced sample size facilitated exercise monitoring, practiced under the same conditions. We found a prevalence of MetS 15% in adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age, following the diagnostic criteria of the ALAD. Ramirez, et al. [25,26], point out that this classification is ideal for Mexican adolescents. It is very likely that using other criteria such as the IDF or the ATPIII, the prevalence is higher since the use more general MetS diagnostic criteria. The profile of MetS found in the Mexican adolescents was hyperalphalipoproteinemia, abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and abnormal fasting glycemia. In young adults in Brazil, the profile of MetS was hypoalpha-lipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension; [27] in Peruvian adolescent's hyperalphalipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and abdominal obesity were found [28], both studies indicate that abnormal fasting glycemia was the least frequent component. We found similarities between these profiles, highlighting hyperalphalipoproteinemia as the most frequent component of MetS. Atherogenic dyslipidemia is made up of hypoalphalipoproteinemia and hypertriglyceridemia, which is worrisome because of its pathogenic implications. The frequency of dyslipidemias found by Sapunar, et al. [24] in Chilean adolescents was 38% and by Pajuelo, et al. [29] in Peruvian adolescents with obesity and IR was 46%.
We found 80% of hypoalphalipoproteinemia and 30% hypertriglyceridemia. Dyslipidemias are related to high fat diets, obesity and physical inactivity. [24] It is likely that the gastronomy southeast region of Mexico, being high in saturated and unsaturated fats, is a contributor to the high incidence of dyslipidemias. A limitation of the study was not to analyze the diet of the adolescents, although they were asked to maintain their usual diet to avoid interference with results. Genetics is a factor that can alter the metabolism of fats, differences have been found in the lipid profile between ethnic groups and races, which have been associated with genetic polymorphisms or epigenetic characteristics [29]. Gonzales, et al. [30] in children from this region found polymorphisms associated with obesity and overweight, which may be related to dyslipidemia and MetS. Another factor alters the lipid profile is IR, whose effect at the hepatic level is to increase the synthesis of very low-density lipoproteins, increase the release of low-density cholesterol lipoproteins and triglycerides in the blood, and can also decrease HDL-c by increasing the speed of its degradation and by the abnormal maturation of apolipoprotein 1/HDL-c [21]. Although the gold standard for IR is the euglycemic clamp, this tool was not accessible, so the IR was determined by insulin values. With these methods we found 68-89% of IR in adolescents with MetS.
Using lipid values to determine the IR prevalence in adolescents with MetS was 37-57%, which seems to be more reliable but less sensitive, and may be a more accessible alternative to identify IR in the first level of health care since serum insulin tends to be more expensive and less accessible [31]. Interestingly, during adolescence, which is a period of growth, somatotropin modifies glucose metabolism and produces compensatory hyperinsulinism.
This occurs in stage IV and V adolescents according to the Tanner scale [6,21] which corresponds by age to the adolescents studied.
Excess body fat was found in 94% of adolescents with MetS. We found excess fat, hyperinsulinemia and insulin sensitivity, subclinical alterations that can favor the development of cardiometabolic diseases [32]. Some adolescents without abdominal obesity presented excess body fat, which may be indicating visceral obesity, some authors have called these people as TOFI (Thin Outside, Fat Inside), which is changing the paradigm of obesity and highlights the need for other tools to identify pathogenic adiposity, since fat affects the metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates and therefore may increase the frequency of MetS and cardiometabolic risk [33].
Exercise decreased blood pressure levels and triglyceride levels in adolescents with MetS. In accordance with these results, different studies have found that the main effect of exercise is the reduction of blood pressure; it seems that muscle activity improves circulation and favors the production of nitric oxide, produces vasodilation which lowers blood pressure.
Nitric oxide may also decrease oxidative stress and improve insulin function in the muscle cell, which represents protective effects at the cardiovascular level [34]. Other authors have also found that physical exercise reduces triglyceride levels in children and adolescents, proposing that the energy spent on exercise comes from the hydrolysis of blood triglycerides and muscle deposits [35].
Meta-analyses have concluded that exercise decreases body fat, both visceral and abdominal, especially when it is of high intensity [36]. Exercise increased beta-pancreatic cell function, this indicator must be correlated with insulin resistance to give a clinical prognosis [37]. In obese adolescents in Taiwan, an intervention similar to ours resulted in decreased body fat, increased insulin sensitivity, and improved b-pancreatic function [38]. The atherogenic index of plasma, a risk factor for coronary disease, was elevated in adolescents with MetS. This risk was high, probably because of diet.
González, et al. [39] in European adolescents propose that a diet rich in saturated and hyperglycemic fats increase cardiovascular risk. Adolescence represents a key period where it is possible to adopt healthy behaviors and adolescents with MetS should be made aware of the importance of lifestyle, as well as encourages physical exercise as a habit that can improve cardiometabolic health and prevent the development of chronic diseases in adulthood.

Conclusion
In Mexican adolescents with MetS, physical exercise lowers blood pressure levels, triglycerides and improved some cardiovascular risk indicators such as insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta cell function. We propose that by increasing the intervention time with physical exercise greater therapeutic effects would be achieved.

Conflicts of Interest
All the authors declare no conflict of interest.