The effects of exercise on total antioxidant capacity and serum lipid profile in regularly exercising sports students

The importance of regular daily exercise for healthy living is increasingly recognized. Regular exercise has been shown to exert multiple beneficial effects on general health, such as promoting cardiovascular fitness, maintaining optimal body weight and muscle mass, decreasing abdominal fat deposition, increasing insulin sensitivity, and improving serum lipid profile.It is believed that the brief oxidative stress caused by exercise-induced ROS increase does not cause a permenant injury but rather it support antioxidative defense mechanisms. This is supported by the observation of increased antioxidative enzymes in bloods of regularly exercising individuals. Oxidative stress is considered as an etiology of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and cancer.The aim of this study was to examine the effects of exercise on human health, oxidative stress, and antioxidative capacity. We planned to compare the blood samples of regularly exercising sports students with sedentary non-exercising medical students.Female and male students were grouped according to the activity levels and each gender group was seperately analyzed. Fasting blood samples of studied subjects were taken. The serum samples were divided into aliquats and stored at -20?C until the analysis.In addition to routine biochemical anlyses, TBARS testing for oxidative stres measurement, FRAP, A, C, E vitamins for non-protein antioxidative capacity measurement, total lipid, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, and triglyceride tests for serum lipid measurement, serum iron and iron-binding capacity for anemia asssessment, and serum albumin, ferritin, transferin, and ceruloplasmin tests for serum protein profile assessment were performed.Mean values for total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, and total lipid were siginificantly higher in medical students compared to sports students. In contrast, LDL-C / HDL-C ratio was siginificantly lower in sports students and this finding was attributable to the beneficial influence of exercise on lipid profile.Serum proteins as well as serum Ca, iron, and TBARS anlysis, which are influenced by protein levels, were significantly higher in medical students compared to sports students for both genders. This finding was largely due to serum protein levels. Thus, it was concluded that exercise does not exert any negative effect on serum Ca and iron levels. The difference between groups regarding TBARS was considered normal due to the fact that a slight exercise-induced increase in oxidative stres might be always possible.In conclusion, regular aerobic exercise may decrease cardiovascular disease risk by exerting a beneficial effect on serum lipid profile. A decrease in serum iron levels was considered to balance excess exercise-induced ROS production, whereas excessively decreased serum iron levels should be replaced in a controlled manner.