Response of oxidative stress markers and antioxidant parameters to an 8-week aerobic physical activity program in healthy, postmenopausal women

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the influence of an 8-week aerobic physical activity program on oxidative stress markers, antioxidant parameters, and selected metabolic parameters in healthy, postmenopausal women. The study was carried out in a group of 41 healthy women (mean age 65 years) participating in an 8-week cycle ergometer physical workout of moderate intensity. Before and after completing the training program, the following parameters were assessed: total antioxidant status (TAS) and concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in plasma, serum levels of antibodies against oxidatively modified low-density lipoproteins (LDL) (oLAB), serum concentrations of glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), insulin, and reduced glutathione (GSH) concentrations in red blood cells (RBC). Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and insulin resistance index (HOMAIR) were calculated. The 8-week aerobic physical activity program resulted in significant decrease (p < 0.01) in serum glucose and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, plasma TBARS concentrations (p < 0.05), and in significant decrease of HOMAIR (p < 0.01). TAS of plasma and GSH concentrations in RBC increased significantly (p < 0.01) over the study period. The results show that an 8-week aerobic training enhanced insulin sensitivity, and improved the balance between oxidants and antioxidants in healthy, postmenopausal women.

Introduction

Aging is associated with a rise in plasma free radical concentrations, mainly due to a decline in antioxidant mechanisms and a rise in pro-oxidant factors such as glucose and insulin concentrations (Mezzetti et al., 1996). Cellular defensive response to oxidative stress of many different cell types has been recently found to decline with aging (Holbrook and Ikeyama, 2002). Therefore, a consideration must be given to issues aimed at the activation of the host defense mechanism in response to oxidative stress. It appears that the best mechanism for activating such responses is the stress itself (Finkel and Holbrook, 2000). This implies that a subtle oxidative stress (associated with systematic physical activity, for example) induces adaptive changes in different tissues: heart, liver, blood, or muscle (Ataley and Sen, 1999, Ji, 2002) and stimulates upregulation of antioxidant defenses, particularly in tissues directly involved in exercise, such as muscle and cardiovascular tissues (Fatouros et al., 2004, Finaud et al., 2006). As a result, cells become less susceptible to damages associated with an acute oxidative stress (Meilhac et al., 2001).

Systematic aerobic exercise may lead to an increase in physiological antioxidant defenses of the organism both in young and in old subjects (Polidori et al., 2000), but the balance between exercise-related free radicals production and antioxidant induction in the elderly could be more delicate then in young subjects. This is due to the fact that according to the “free radical theory of aging” (Harman, 2006), oxidative stress plays an important role in resting, physiologically aging organisms and in many age-related diseases (Finkel and Holbrook, 2000, Wei and Lee, 2002). Considering that older adults, especially postmenopausal, overweight women, are already at risk for oxidative stress (Reckelhoff and Fortepiani, 2004), the additional exposure to exercise may inflict an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants. Therefore, we investigated the influence of an 8-week aerobic physical activity program on oxidative stress markers, antioxidant status and insulin resistance parameters in healthy, overweight, postmenopausal women.

Section snippets

The study pool

Forty-one postmenopausal female members of the University of Third Age in Poznań (Poland) aged 59–71 volunteered as participants for the training program. Subjects performed 8-week cycle ergometer (Ergoline, model Ergo Metrics 900, Germany) physical workout. The training consisted of 40-min sessions of physical exercise (30 min with workload at the level of 70–80% of ventilatory threshold intensity) repeated three times per week.

The methods used

Before the training, after 4 weeks and at the end of the training

Results

Anthropometric and biochemical data, selected antioxidant parameters, and oxidative stress indices in blood before and after the training program are shown in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3.

No significant differences in the anthropometric parameters (body weight, BMI, fat mass (FM) and WHR) were found. However, VO2max increased significantly following the 8-week aerobic training (p < 0.01; Table 1).

Glucose and LDL-C concentrations, and HOMAIR were significantly lower at the end of the workout (p < 0.01;

Discussion

Regular physical activity and exercise are recommended not only for maintenance of optimal health and prevention or management of chronic diseases (Singh, 2004) but also to enhance or maintain antioxidant defenses (Polidori et al., 2000). The study of Borras et al. (2003) indicated that postmenopausal women have lost the protective antioxidant benefits of estrogen; a loss of ovarian hormones is associated with lower glutathione levels and increased peroxide formation in systemic tissues. Vina

Conclusions

Eight-week aerobic physical training (30 min with workload at the level of 70–80% of respiratory threshold intensity) had beneficial effects on antioxidant defense system and limited the extent of oxidative damage in overweight, postmenopausal women, as indicated by decreased TBARS in plasma, increased GSH content in RBC, augmented TAS of plasma. The training favorably influenced lipid metabolism (decreased LDL-C levels) and insulin sensitivity (decreased HOMAIR) even despite the lack of body

Conflict of interest statement

None.

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