Alterations of atherogenic low-density lipoproteins and serum fatty acids after 12 week moderate exercise training in sedentary Thai women

Abstract

The potential benefit of aerobic exercise upon cardiovascular disease (CVD) through an increasing high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) is acknowledged. However, its effects on low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and their sub-populations, are unknown in Thailand. Twenty sedentary Thai women undertook a 12-week exercise training program (60% heart rate reserve) comprising 25-minute cycling followed by 10-minute warm-up/cool-down 3 times a week with a group of 20 matched sedentary subjects as control. Triacylglycerols (TGs) and cholesterol (C) of plasma lipoproteins including triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins (TRLs), large, buoyant LDL (lb-LDL), small, dense LDL (sd-LDL) and HDLs were analyzed while serum fatty acid profiles were also assessed. It was found that plasma TGs, TRL-TGs, sd-LDL-C and sd-LDL-C/lb-LDL-C (S/L) ratio decreased significantly after 12-weeks of exercise to -9%, -8%, -17% and -19% respectively from baseline (p<0.05). Serum fatty acid profiles remained unchanged. No alteration of any parameters was found in the control group without exercise. These findings suggest that moderate exercise training, even without a change of HDLs, impedes the shift of lb-LDL to more atherogenic sd-LDL, thus possibly preventing cardiovascular disease in healthy, sedentary Thai women.