Evidences have shown that the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases in women after menopause compared with men of similar age. Estrogen deficiency was ascribed as the main cause of increased rate of CVD in postmenopausal women, but data are not conclusive since clinical trial failed to show beneficial effect of hormonal replacement therapy in the incidence of CVD in this population. Additionally, evidences show a positive relationship between testosterone levels and increased abdominal adiposity as well as arterial hypertension in women after menopause. Although, it is well known that physical exercise promotes beneficial effects in the cardiovascular system with increased nitric oxide (NO) production and/or up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes, no studies evaluated the effect of exercise training (ET) on the steroids hormone levels associated with nitrite/nitrate and redox status in postmenopausal women. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the effects of ET on the cardiovascular biomarkers and steroids hormone in normotensive (NT; n=29) and hypertensive (HT; n=21) women. Women were undergone to twenty-four sessions of ET on a treadmill at moderate intensity. Total testosterone, cortisol, cyclic GMP (cGMP), nitrite/nitrate (NOx-) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured before and after ET. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzymes activity was also evaluated. Blood pressure was significantly reduced after ET (approximately 5%) for NT and HT. In contrast, no changes were observed in the cardiovascular biomarkers, NOx- (basal: 28.5±4.0, ET: 28.6±3 µM for NT; basal: 38.9±8.0, ET: 55.4±10.4 µM for HT) and cGMP (basal: 5.0±0.5, ET: 6.3±0.7 pmol/mL for NT; basal: 5.5±0.7, ET: 6.4±1.0 pmol/mL for HT). Similarly, serum concentrations of cortisol (basal: 16.6±4.8, ET: 17.5±5.1 µg/dL for NT; basal: 15.7±5.4, ET: 16.4±4.5 µg/dL for HT) and testosterone (basal: 22.7±3.2, ET: 23.6±3.3 ng/dL for NT; basal: 25.2±3.0, ET: 23.4±2.7 ng/dL for HT) were not different in both groups. MDA levels were not different in both groups (basal: 13.8±1.6, ET: 12.2±1.2 µM for NT; basal: 14.2±1.3, ET: 13.3±1.1 µM for HT) as well as catalase activity (basal: 40.2±3.5, ET: 36.5±3.3 nmol/min/mL for NT; basal: 36.5±3.0, ET: 39.1±3.5 nmol/min/mL for HT). In contrast, a marked increase in SOD activity was found in both NT (basal: 12.5±1.4; ET: 24.8±2.3 U/mL) and HT groups (basal: 12.5±1.7; ET: 29.5±1.8 U/mL) after 24 sessions of ET. Our findings show that ET was effective in lowering blood pressure in postmenopausal women that was associated with up-regulation in SOD activity even though we failed to show any changes in NO/cGMP levels. Steroids hormone levels were similar between NT and HT postmenopausal women at baseline and after ET.
37th Congress of IUPS (Birmingham, UK) (2013) Proc 37th IUPS, PCA286
Poster Communications: Steroids hormone and nitrite/nitrate levels are unchanged in normotensive and hypertensive postmenopausal women after aerobic exercise training
I. Novais1, G. Puga1, H. Araújo1, R. Esposti1, A. Jarrete1, C. Sponton1, M. Delbin1, A. Zanesco1
1. Biosciences Institute, SÒo Paulo State University J·lio de Mesquita Filho, Rio Claro, SÒo Paulo, Brazil.
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