Exercise and Diet Responses in Adult Men With Obesity by MC4R Genotype and Metabolic Health

This study evaluated whether differences in the MC4R rs17782313 gene variant and metabolic health status were associated with different responses to a 12-week exercise and dietary intervention in adult men with obesity. A total of 40 men aged 18 to 59 years with obesity participated in the study. At baseline, participants were classified as having metabolically healthy obesity or metabolically unhealthy obesity according to metabolic risk factors. All participants received the same supervised lifestyle intervention, which included aerobic exercise, resistance training, and an individualized energy-controlled diet. Body weight, body composition, physical fitness, blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, glycated hemoglobin, and fasting insulin were measured before and after the 12-week intervention. Blood samples were also collected for MC4R rs17782313 genotyping. The study examined whether changes after the intervention differed according to baseline metabolic phenotype and MC4R genotype.

Inclusion Criteria: * Male sex * Age 18 to 59 years * Body mass index of at least 28 kg/m2 * Waist circumference of at least 90 cm * Able and willing to provide written informed consent * Able and willing to participate in the 12-week supervised exercise and dietary intervention and complete the scheduled assessments Exclusion Criteria: * Severe hepatic insufficiency * Severe renal insufficiency * Cardiovascular disease * Other clinically significant vascular disease * Current use of glucose-lowering medication * Current use of antihypertensive medication * Current use of lipid-lowering medication * Unable or unwilling to comply with the intervention and assessment schedule