# Effects of Four Lipid Metabolism-Related Polymorphisms on Body Composition Improvements After 12 Weeks of High-Intensity Interval Training and Dietary Energy Restriction in Overweight/Obese Adult Women: A Pilot Study

PMID: 34539437
Journal: Frontiers in physiology
Published: 2021
Authors: Andrade-Mayorga O, Díaz E, Salazar LA

## Question

Do lipid-metabolism-related polymorphisms influence body-composition response after 12 weeks of supervised HIIT plus dietary energy restriction in overweight or obese women?

## Summary

In overweight or obese adult women, 12 weeks of supervised cycling HIIT plus a calorie-restricted diet reduced body mass and fat mass and improved VO2peak, but the study had no non-exercise control group and diet was part of the intervention. A PLIN1 genotype appeared related to greater fat-loss response, making this mainly internal personalization context rather than a frontend promise.

## Population

- Overweight or obese premenopausal adult women
- Sample size: 30
- Age: 27.4 +/- 7.9 years
- Sex: 30 women
- Fitness level: Untrained in prior 6 months
- Health status: BMI 25-39.9; major cardiometabolic diseases and exercise contraindications excluded

## Methodology

- Pilot single-arm genotype-response intervention study
- 12 weeks
- Supervised cycle-ergometer HIIT with nutritionist-supported home dietary energy restriction

## Protocol

- Cycling HIIT plus energy restriction.
- Modality: Cycle ergometer.
- Work intervals: 1 minute.
- Recovery: 2 minutes seated inactive rest.
- Sets or repetitions: 10 intervals.
- Intensity: 85%-100% HRmax and muscle failure at the end of intervals.
- Session duration: 30 minutes.
- Frequency: 3 times/week.
- Program length: 12 weeks.
- Progression: Workload increased when muscle failure was not reached by the end of the 60-second bout.

## Outcomes

### Fat mass
Status: improved
Body mass, fat mass, percent body fat, and BMI decreased after HIIT plus diet.

High responders lost about -4.7 kg fat mass versus -1.1 kg in low responders; between-delta p<.0001

### VO2peak
Status: improved
VO2peak and VO2peak relative to fat-free mass increased similarly across responder groups.

### PLIN1
Status: mixed
PLIN1 rs1052700 genotype was associated with high versus low fat-loss response, but this was exploratory.

Chi2=8.138, p=.01; TT genotype had greater fat-mass reduction, p=.04

### Safety
Status: improved
Participants tolerated exercise and no injuries were reported.

## Practical Insights

- Do not use this as exercise-only fat-loss evidence because diet restriction was part of the intervention.
- For internal generation, this supports a 10 x 1-minute cycling template with 2-minute rests for medically screened users.
- Genotype-response findings should remain exploratory and not user-facing personalization claims.

## Limitations

- Small pilot sample
- No non-intervention control group
- Not randomized
- Diet co-intervention confounds exercise-only effects
- Bioelectrical impedance body composition
- Women-only overweight/obese sample

## Safety And Adherence

- All participants tolerated exercise.
- No injuries were reported.
- Participants were medically screened and several cardiometabolic conditions were excluded.

## Original Sources

- [PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34539437/) (pubmed)
- [DOI](https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.712787) (doi)
- [PMC full text](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8440869/) (full text)

## Agent Guidance

Preserve the paper-level scope of this note. Do not generalize beyond the population, protocol, measured outcomes, and limitations above.