The efficacy of intermittent walking in water on the rate of MHPG sulfate and the severity of depression

Objective: many studies evaluated the efficacy of exercise on some depression indices,but the effect of physical exercise in exhilarating milieu on urine 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (mhpg) sulfate-the main metabolite of norepinephrine is not clear. the purpose of this research was to study the effect of a six-week intermittent walking in the water on 24-hour urine mhpg sulfate in depressed female teenagers. methods: twenty-four high school female students with depression were divided randomly into case and control group. pool walking exercise program was implemented 3 sessions weekly for 6 weeks and with a rate of 60-70% of the maximum heart rate. the control group didn't enter any exercise protocol and did not receive any other anti-depressant therapy. hplc-fluorometric detection assay was used to measure 24-hour urine mhpg sulfate values. the data was analyzed with t-test and pierson's correlation tests. results: twenty hour urine mhpg sulfate increased from 1.93 (±0.59) to 4.66 (±0.85) micromole in case group (p ≤ 0.001),and in control group from 1.67 (±0.58) to 1.80 (±0.58) micromole. increase of 24-hour urine mhpg sulfate and increasing of maximum oxygen consumption showed significant positive correlation (r = 0.65),and a significant negative correlation (r = 0.65) was observed between urine mhpg sulfate and hamilton rating scale for depression (ham-d) score. conclusion: aerobics training in exhilarating environments shows desirable influence over reduction of depression. this reduction of depression is correlated with mhpg sulfate elevation.