Introduction and purpose: Very little research has been done on the effect of exercise on the possible ways to improve blood pressure in diabetic patients, so the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of combined exercise on endothelin-1, nitric oxide and blood pressure in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.
Materials and methods: 28 diabetic postmenopausal women were randomly divided into two groups: 1) Training [N=15] with body mass 31.7±3 kg/m2 and fasting blood sugar 177±13 mg/dL and  2) control [N=13] with body mass 29.8±3 kg/m2 and fasting blood sugar 161±10 mg/dL deciliter. The training included 3 sessions per week, each session 30 minutes of aerobic exercise with an intensity of 60-70% of maximum heart rate and resistance training with intensity equal to 60% of one repetition maximum, for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken before and after the training period to measure the variables. Data were analyzed using t-tests and analysis of covariance at a significance level of P<0.05.
Results: Data analysis showed that there was no significant change in insulin, insulin resistance, diastolic blood pressure, maximum oxygen consumption and endothelin-1 in the training group (P<0.05). Blood sugar levels and systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the training group (P<0.05). In addition, the results showed that nitric oxide increased significantly in the training group (P<0.05). Also, a significant difference between groups was observed for the variables of fasting blood sugar levels, systolic blood pressure, endothelin-1, and nitric oxide (P<0.05).
Discussion and Conclusion: In general, it seems that combined exercises can reduce blood pressure in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes by affecting factors affecting vascular compliance such as endothelin-1 and nitric oxide.