effect of selected after-school physical activity protocol on levels of crp, mir-125a-5p, and lipid profile of children with overweight/obesity

Background: one of the causes of arterial endothelial dysfunction in adulthood is obesity or overweight in childhood or adolescence. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the effect of a selected after-school physical activity protocol on peak oxygen consumption (vo 2peak), c-reactive protein (crp), mir-125a-5p level, and lipid profile of male children with overweight/obesity. methods: twenty-four boy children with overweight/obesity (aged 13 - 15 years) were assigned to after-school physical activity (apa, bmi = 27.5±1.4 kg/m², n = 12) and control (con, bmi = 26.28 ± 2.3 kg/m², n = 12) groups. the apa participants took part in exercise intervention for 12 weeks, three sessions per week. changes in vo 2peak, crp, mir-125a-5p, and lipid profile of participants were assessed before and after exercise interventions. results: there were significant reductions in crp (-27.7% vs. 9.7%), mir-125a-5p (36.7% vs. 7.6%), fat percentage (-8.24% vs. 0.7%), ldl (-17.66% vs. 1.9%), and triglycerides (-15.7% vs. 5.9%) in apa and con groups after 12-week exercise intervention (p < 0.05). in contrast, a significant increase was found in hdl (7.7% vs. -0.6%) and vo 2peak (4.83% vs. -1.6%) (p < 0.05). there were significant between-group differences in all measured variables, except for bmi. conclusions: after-school physical activity effectively improved the endothelial dysfunction and lipid profile of adolescents with overweight/obesity. therefore, based on the positive effects of these physical activities performed out of school, further use of after-school physical activity programs is suggested.