Effect of Physical Activity on Serum Homocysteine Levels in Obese and Overweight Women

Abstract

Aims: Recently, homocysteine has been noticed as the major pathogenesis factor of the cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of physical activities on the serum homocysteine levels, as well as other cardiovascular risk factors in either obese or overweight women. Materials & Methods: In the controlled pretest-posttest semi-experimental study, 18 women referred to the Alzahra sport complexes in districts 3 and 4 of Tehran were studied in 2015. The subjects were selected via random sampling method and randomly divided into two groups; physical activity and control groups. And the intervention program was conducted in the former, while the latter received no intervention. The exercise protocol consisted of 10-week (5 sessions a week) stretching exercises and aerobic activities (60 to 75% of the maximum heart beat). The serum homocystein level and lipids were measured both at the start and 48 hours after the exercises. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software using paired T and independent T tests. Findings: After the exercises, the mean serum homocysteine level in physical activity group significantly decreased than control group (p=0.001). Nevertheless, the difference between the lipid levels of physical activity and control groups was not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Reducing the serum homocysteine concentration, 10-week physical activity might also reduce the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in either obese or overweight women.

The Effect of Physical Activity on Blood Homocysteine Concentration

“…Woolf et al, (2017) demonstrated that physical exercise increases folate concentration in blood which lowers the homocysteine in blood. Soori at al., (2016) revealed that ten week physical exercise reduces concentration of homocysteine in blood and reduces risk for cardiovascular disease in overweight women. These reports are consistent with our findings that a major role of physical activity in lowering the homocysteine concentration in blood by which it reduces the risk of cardiovascular and neurological disease.…”