Anti-inflammatory properties of HDL after short-term exercise training in patients with metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Background: Recent study showed that short-term exercise, associated with diet and weight loss, improves the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL in metabolic syndrome (MS). However, diet and weight loss, per se, can alter the functionality of HDL and, in real life, many patients do not follow the medical counseling of diet and exercise simultaneously. We showed previously that the antioxidative characteristics and the capacity to accept lipids of HDL are early improved by short-term exercise training (Tr) with no diet associated. We sought to verify whether the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL are affected by Tr, without any diet associated, in patients with MS. Methods: Forty sedentary persons (30 with MetS,10 controls) were evaluated. Twenty of those with MS were subjected to a 3 times/week training load (45 min/day) for 3 months on a bicycle. Plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was analyzed and HDL sub-fractions were obtained by plasma ultracentrifugation. Endothelial cells were cultured, stimulated with TNF-α and lipopolysacharide, and coincubated with HDL subfractions obtained before and after Tr. Sequentially, those cultures of endothelial cells were coincubated with THP-1 cells labeled with a fluorescent marker. The labeled THP-1 cells that adhered on endothelial cells were counted under fluoroscopic microscope. Results: Baseline plasma levels of HDL-C were lower in the MS group compared to controls and Tr did not change neither HDL-C nor weight in MS group. Hs-CRP plasma levels from patients with MetS were higher than controls (3.0±1.5 vs 1.5±1.5 mg/L respectively, p<0.05) and did not change after Tr(3.0±1.5 vs 2.8±1.8 mg/L, before and after Tr respectively, p>0.05). The number of adhered labeled THP-1 cells coincubated with endothelial cells did not change significantly when mixed with HDL2a or HDL3b from patients with MS after Tr, compared with HDL2a or HDL3b obtained before Tr. Conclusion: Our results showed that Tr did not change an inflammatory serum marker (hs-CRP) and the adherence of THP-1 cells on endothelium cells, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL are not early improved by short-term exercise, when there is no diet associated.