Diet and exercise training reverses the vascular reactivity impairment of subjects with the 894G>T endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism

Abstract

The 894G>T endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism has been shown to impair vascular function, but it is unknown whether it is reversible. Our aim was to investigate the influence of this polymorphism on the vascular reactivity adaptation to an intervention composed of diet and exercise training. We studied 34 healthy, sedentary, eumenorrheic women (age 32±9 year, BMI 24±3 kg/m2). Twenty had the polymorphic allele [GT (n=15) or TT (n=5) genotypes] and 14 did not (GG genotype). Before and after 12 weeks of intervention, the forearm vascular conductance (FVC) response to a 5 min vascular occlusion was assessed (plethysmography) before, 10, 60 and 120 min after a maximal treadmill test. The groups were similar for pre‐intervention anthropometric, metabolic and hemodynamic characteristics (p>0.05). Subjects with the polymorphism had lower FVC response at the 120 min measurement pre‐intervention (% change from pre‐ischemia, 322±39 vs. 427±49 %, p=0.05). The intervention improved anthropometric, metabolic and hemodynamic characteristics similarly in both groups (p<0.05). The FVC response to ischemia increased post‐intervention in both groups (p<0.05), and there was no difference between them anymore (p>0.05). In conclusion, diet and exercise training reversed the vascular reactivity impairment of subjects with the 894G>T eNOS gene polymorphism. Support: CAPES, CNPq, FINEP and FAPERJ.