The Effect of Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Lipoprotein Particles in Midlife Women

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk accelerates in midlife women. Although lipoprotein cholesterol is a risk factor for CVD, increasing evidence suggests that lipoprotein particles may be more related to cardiovascular health. High cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better lipoprotein particle profiles in men; however, little research has evaluated the effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on lipoprotein particles in midlife women.PURPOSETo evaluate the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on lipoprotein particle profiles in healthy midlife women.METHODSThe concentration, size, and subtype of high‐density (HDL), low‐density (LDL), very‐low density (VLDL), and intermediate density (IDL) lipoprotein particles was evaluated, along with the number of chylomicrons and triglycerides using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (LabCorp) in healthy high (n = 25, VO2peak = 46.4 ± 1.6 ml/kg/min, age = 55.8 ± 1.2 yr) and low‐fit (n = 13, VO2peak = 29.1 ± 1.0 ml/kg/min, age = 54.8 ± 1.8 yr) perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. A standard lipoprotein cholesterol profile was also assessed. Differences between high and low‐fit women were evaluated with independent t‐tests or Mann‐Whitney tests. Data are presented as mean ± SEM.RESULTSHigh‐density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher in high compared to low‐fit women (88.6 ± 2.9 vs. 74.7 ± 5.1 mg/dl, p = 0.015), while triglycerides and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration did not differ based on fitness (p>0.05). Compared to low‐fit women, high fit women had larger HDL particles (10.1 ± 0.1 vs. 9.7 ± 0.1 nm, p = 0.005), and a greater concentration of large (14.8 ± 0.7 vs. 11.0 ± 0.9 mmol/L, p = 0.002), and medium (12.9 ± 0.8 vs. 8.4 ± 0.8 mmol/L, p = 0.002) HDL particles. High‐fit women had larger LDL particles (21.7 ± 0.1 vs. 21.3 ± 0.1 nm, p = 0.005), and a greater concentration of large LDL particles (623.1 ± 32.8 vs. 500.2 ± 52.6 nmol/L, p = 0.045) and medium VLDL particles (10.6 ± 1.2 vs. 6.5 ± 1.6 nmol/L, p = 0.044) compared to low‐fit women. Conversely, low‐fit women had more small VLDL (29.9 ± 2.8 vs. 18.2 ± 2.5 nmol/L, p = 0.007), small HDL (15.4 ± 1.6 vs. 10.2 ± 1.1 mmol/L, p = 0.002), and small LDL particles (311.5 ± 44.7 vs. 145.5 ± 31.4 nmol/L, p = 0.001) compared to high‐fit women.CONCLUSIONThese data indicate that in healthy midlife women, high cardiorespiratory fitness may positively influence lipoprotein particle sizes and concentrations, and that many of these differences are not apparent from a standard lipid profile.Support or Funding InformationAmerican College of Sports Medicine Foundation Doctoral Student Research Grant (Serviente), National Institute on Aging Grant T32‐AG049676 (Pennsylvania State University), University of Massachusetts Amherst Provost's Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Chalvin).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.