Effects of Short-term Aerobic Exercise and/or Smoking Cessation on Autonomic Nerve Regulation in Healthy Male Smokers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 3-day smoking cessation (SC) and/or aerobic exercise (AE) on the autonomic nerve system (ANS) in healthy male smokers. Seven subjects participated in an AE (session A), SC (session B), and SC + AE (session C) through randomized crossover design, consisting of 60% of heart rate reserve, 60 min/day during consecutive 3-day in healthy male smokers. After overnight fasting, the ANS activities were assessed using power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) at resting and post period. Exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) to confirm smoking status and forced vital capacity (FVC) to test pulmonary function were also measured before and after the session. Although each session does not affect FVC, CO was significantly reduced in sessions B and C, respectively (p<.05). Mean HR was significantly decreased in the session A and C, but not in the session B. The HRV parameters in session C, but not session A and B showed increased high frequency and increased SDNN, pNN50, RMSSD, respectively (p<.05). In this study, short-term aerobic exercise with smoking cessation led to a significant increase in the parasympathetic activity, suggesting these treatments will be an effective intervention for young smokers.