Improved Vascular, Immunological And Oxidative Stress Parameters In Hiv-positive Men Towards Endurance Training

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

HIV-infection is paralleled by the development of a cardiometabolic syndrome. Endurance training has been shown to positively influence the cardiovascular, metabolic as well as the anti-oxidative capacity. However, little is known whether exercise at higher intensities impairs immune system and thus may be contraindicated in HIV-patients. PURPOSE: We investigated the potential effects of marathon-endurance training on immune reconstitution and vascular, metabolic and/or oxidative stress parameters in HIV-positive patients. METHODS: 13 HIV-positive men participated in this study. Measurement of immune status, oxidative stress and the anti-oxidative defence capacity under acute exercise conditions was conducted PRE and POST marathon-training. RESULTS: After 12 months of endurance training, maximal running velocity (mean±SEM; before vs. after: 13.2±1.8 vs. 14.0±2.0 km/h) as well as running velocity at 4mM lactate threshold (9.7±1.3 vs. 10.9±1.6 km/h) were significantly increased. Diastolic (83.1±7.2 vs. 76.5±6.9 mmHg) and systolic blood pressure (131.2±12.4 vs. 118.5±10.7 mmHg) significantly decreased. This was paralleled by an improvement of renal function as indicated by a significant decrease in plasma creatinin (1.04±0.12 vs. 0.96±0.14 mg/dl). Antioxidative defence capacity was decreased before the training intervention (0.77±0.27 mM trolox equivalent (TE)) in relation to the reference values (1.07-1.53 mM TE) but increased after 9 months of training (1.16±0.16 mM TE). WHO ergometer tests until physical exhaustion significantly increased oxidative stress before and after the training intervention similarly (+0.23±0.29 vs. 0.23±0.27 mM H2O2) (p<0.05). CD4 T cell counts (606±79% vs. 774±99 cells/µl) as well as CD4:CD8 ratios (0.57±0.09 vs. 0.7±0.1) improved over time (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that endurance training is able to improve blood pressure, metabolic parameters and kidney function in patients with chronic HIV infection. Moreover, marathon endurance training is associated with increased CD4+ T cell counts suggesting a beneficial effect on immune functions. Nevertheless, blood oxidative stress is still elevated and significantly increases at high anaerobic but not moderate aerobic physical intensities in endurance trained HIV-positive men.