Aerobic Exercise Improves Brain Natriuretic Peptide and C-Reactive Protein Among Men and Women With Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is considered as an important cause of mortality. We investigated the effect of 8 weeks aerobic exercise training (AET) on two key markers: brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a cardiac hypertrophy indicator and C- reactive protein (CRP) as an inflammatory marker among men and women with coronary artery disease. Methods: In a randomized two-arm parallel single-blind trial, sixty patients with CAD participated and divided into four groups: women aerobic exercise (WAE), men aerobic exercise (MAE), women control (WC), and men control (MC). The WAE and MAE performed exercise protocol on a pre-calibrated cycle ergometer (3 sessions per week, for 8 weeks). The experimental groups exercised for 15 minutes with 55-60 percent of their target heart rates (220- age) in the first week of the intervention, followed by adding 5 minutes per week to the exercise duration. Serum BNP and CRP were measured at the baseline and during the following 8 weeks exercise intervention. We aimed to investigate whether exercise downregulates CAD biomarkers and improves the cardiac performance in CAD patients. Additionally, we tried to provide a suitable training program at the level of physical fitness of the patients, which would reduce the death rate from cardiovascular disease of the middle-aged citizens in the country and increase the life years without disability in cardiovascular and healthy patients, as well. Results: The BNP and CRP levels were significantly higher in women compared to men both before and after exercise. They significantly decreased at Post-Ex compared to Pre-Ex in MAE and WAE. Further, CRP was significantly higher in women in comparison with men at Pre-Ex and Post-Ex. Additionally, BNP was significantly lower in women compared to men at Pre-Ex and Post-Ex. Conclusion: These findings suggest AET as an effective exercise regime for ameliorating these markers in patients with coronary artery disease.