# Inflammatory markers and noncoding-RNAs responses to low and high compressions of HIIT with or without berberine supplementation in middle-aged men with prediabetes

PMID: 39107107
Journal: Physiological reports
Published: 2024 Aug
Authors: Nikseresht M, Dabidi Roshan V, Nasiri K

## Question

How do low-compression and high-compression low-volume HIIT, with or without berberine, affect inflammatory markers, noncoding RNAs, and insulin resistance in middle-aged men with overweight or obesity and prediabetes?

## Summary

In middle-aged overweight or obese men with prediabetes, 8 weeks of home-based HIIT improved several inflammatory and insulin-resistance markers. A lower-compression version with longer rests showed some unique anti-inflammatory signals, while adding berberine did not clearly add benefit to exercise.

## Population

- Middle-aged overweight or obese men with prediabetes
- Sample size: 54
- Age: Group means roughly 48-53 years
- Sex: Men
- Fitness level: Sedentary; less than 60 minutes physical activity per week
- Health status: Prediabetes with fasting blood glucose 110-180 mg/dL; overweight or obese

## Methodology

- Single-blinded randomized controlled trial
- 8 weeks
- Home-based WhatsApp-supervised exercise during COVID-19 limitations
- Randomized and controlled study design.

## Protocol

- Home-based LC/HC HIIT.
- Modality: Bodyweight circuit.
- Work intervals: 20 seconds.
- Recovery: HC 10 seconds; LC 20 seconds; 1 minute between sets.
- Sets or repetitions: 2-4 sets of 8 exercises.
- Intensity: RPE 7-9, equivalent to 85-95% HRmax.
- Session duration: 10-24 minutes depending on compression and week.
- Frequency: 2 sessions/week.
- Program length: 8 weeks.
- Progression: Sets increased from 2 to 3 to 4; exercises progressed from simpler to more complex after 4 weeks.
- Berberine or sedentary control.
- Modality: No exercise.
- Program length: 8 weeks.
- Progression: No exercise progression.

## Outcomes

### Inflammation
Status: improved
All exercise interventions reduced hs-CRP and IL-1 beta versus control, while NLRP3 and H19 decreased only after LC versus baseline.

Abstract and discussion report significant reductions; exact p-values vary by marker/table.

### Glucose markers
Status: improved
Exercise interventions reduced insulin, fasting glucose, and HOMA-IR versus control; BBR alone reduced fasting glucose and HOMA-IR from baseline.

Reported as significant in abstract.

### Berberine add-on
Status: no clear change
Adding berberine to exercise did not provide clear additional benefits for selected inflammatory markers.

Authors state BBR with HIIT failed to yield significant enhancements in selected inflammatory markers.

### LC response
Status: improved
Low-compression HIIT showed unique improvements in H19, NLRP3, and blood pressure-related outcomes.

NLRP3 and H19 dropped only with LC versus baseline; LC improved SBP and MAP in discussion.

## Practical Insights

- Equal-rest 20:20 intervals may be a useful lower-compression option for metabolic-risk users.
- Two weekly home HIIT sessions can be a plausible low-volume dose for internal programming experiments.
- Supplement combinations should be kept out of user-facing claims unless the app has a dedicated nutrition evidence layer.

## Limitations

- Men-only sample.
- Small per-group sample size.
- Adverse events were not clearly reported.
- Berberine co-intervention complicates interpretation.
- Only 8 weeks of training.

## Safety And Adherence

- Adverse events were not clearly reported in the reviewed full text.
- Participants were sedentary but otherwise screened to exclude chronic disease, smoking, regular medication use, and nonstandard diets.
- The protocol progressed exercise complexity after the first four weeks.

## Original Sources

- [PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39107107/) (pubmed)
- [DOI](https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.16146) (doi)
- [PMC full text](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11303016/) (full text)

## Agent Guidance

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