Abstract
Regular exercise plays an important preventive and therapeutic role in heart and vascular diseases, and beneficially affects brain function. In blood, the effects of exercise appear to be very complex and could include protection of vascular endothelial cells via neurotrophic factors and decreased oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to identify the age-related changes in peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its relationship to oxidative damage and conventional cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers, such as atherogenic index, C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and oxidized LDL (oxLDL), in active and inactive men. Seventeen elderly males (61-80 years) and 17 young males (20-24 years) participated in this study. According to the 6-min Åstrand-Rhyming bike test, the subjects were classified into active and inactive groups. The young and elderly active men had a significantly better lipoprotein profile and antioxidant status, as well as reduced oxidative damage and inflammatory state. The active young and elderly men had significantly higher plasma BDNF levels compared to their inactive peers. BDNF was correlated with VO2max (r=0.765, P<0.001). In addition, we observed a significant inverse correlation of BDNF with atherogenic index (TC/HDL), hsCRP and oxLDL. The findings demonstrate that a high level of cardiorespiratory fitness reflected in VO2max was associated with a higher level of circulating BDNF, which in turn was related to common CVD risk factors and oxidative damage markers in young and elderly men.
Highlights
Regular exercise is known to improve the physiological performance of skeletal and cardiac muscles and decrease the incidence of a wide range of diseases, including heart and vascular diseases, certain kinds of cancers, type 2 diabetes, etc. [1]
Lipid profile and C-reactive protein Plasma total cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) as well as triglycerides were determined by the professional laboratory company Diagnostyka (Poland, ISO 15189)
Aging is associated with immunosenescence and is accompanied by a chronic inflammatory state which contributes to a metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular consequences
Summary
Regular exercise is known to improve the physiological performance of skeletal and cardiac muscles and decrease the incidence of a wide range of diseases, including heart and vascular diseases, certain kinds of cancers, type 2 diabetes, etc. [1]. The effects of exercise appear to be very complex and could include enhanced angiogenesis, neurogenesis and mitogenesis via neurotrophic factors, and reduced oxidative stress [4]. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a part of the neurotrophic family of growth factors, and is responsible for enhancing progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation, cell growth and regeneration processes, neuronal survival, and long-term synaptic remodeling and plasticity. Kermani et al [7] and Matthews et al [8] have shown that BDNF appears to be a major player in central metabolic pathways and as a regulator of angiogenesis and muscle regeneration where it is responsible for mobilization of hematopoietic progenitor cells as well as proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells
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