aerobic exercise training reduces inflammatory markers involved in atherosclerosis

Introduction: adipose tissue and inflammatory factors play important role in occurrence of atherosclerosis in overweight women. the present study aimed to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise training on risk factors involved in atherosclerosis in overweight women. materials and methods: for this, fourteen overweight women (mean ± standard deviation: body mass index 28.49 ± 3.28 k/m2 and body fat 35.01 ± 3.68%) conducted aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks (at intensity correspond with 65 to 80 % reserved heart rate). before and after aerobic exercise training, fasting blood samples were taken and anthropometrics characteristics were measured. the data were analyzed using paired sample t-test (p<0.05). results: aerobic exercise training significantly increased maximal oxygen consumption in overweight women (p=0.001). in contrast, aerobic exercise training result in significant reduction in intracellular adhesion molecule 1 levels (p=0.013) and c-reactive protein (p=0.001). in addition, anthropometric measurements of body fat percentage (p=0.006), waist to hip ratio (p=0.01), and body mass index (p=0.001) showed a significant reduction, too. however, no significant change observed in platelet (p=0.127), high density lipoprotein (p=0.107), low density lipoprotein (p=0.095) and cholesterol (p=0.391) levels. conclusion: reduction in body fat following aerobic exercise training in overweight women is corresponding with a reduction in inflammatory markers involved in atherosclerosis.