Chronic Resistance Training Effects on Serum Adipokines in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review

(1) Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are an important concern for public health because of their high rates of morbidity and mortality. A prevalent lifestyle-linked NCD is type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Recently, molecular biomarkers secreted by adipocytes, called adipokines, have been linked with T2D and muscle function disturbances. However, the effects of resistance training (RT) interventions on adipokine levels in patients with T2D have not been systematically studied. (2) Methods: The PRISMA guidelines were followed. Searches for the studies were performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science electronic databases. Eligibility criteria included: (i) participants with T2D; (ii) RT interventions; (iii) randomized controlled trials; and (iv) measurement of serum adipokines. The PEDro scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the selected studies. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) and effect size were screened for each variable. (3) Results: Of the initial 2166 records, database search extraction yielded 14 studies to be included. The methodological quality of the included data was high (median PEDro score of 6.5). Analyzed adipokines in the included studies were leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, apelin, resistin, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), vaspin, chemerin, and omentin. RT interventions (6–52 weeks; minimal effective duration >12 weeks) exert a meaningful effect on serum adipokine, (e.g., leptin) levels in T2D patients. (4) Conclusions: RT may be an alternative, but not an optimal, option in adipokine disruptions in T2D. Combined (i.e., aerobic and RT) long-term training may be considered the optimal intervention for treating adipokine level disturbances.