Affiliations: National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Molecular Dynamics Section and the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Sciences, Baltimore, MD, USA
Note: [] Present Address: Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., 2nd Floor Chinubhai Center, Off Nehru Bridge, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad‐380 009, Gujarat, India. E‐mail: [email protected].
Note: [] Address for Reprints: Joseph M. Rifkind, PhD, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Molecular Dynamics Section, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. Tel.: +1 410 558 8168; Fax: +1 410 558 8323; E‐mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The present investigation was designed to evaluate the acute effect of aerobic exercise on oxidative stress and the flow properties of the blood. Fourteen clinically healthy subjects (7 men and 7 women aged 56±19 yr) underwent maximal treadmill exercise with blood samples drawn prior to and immediately after exercise. Post‐exercise significant increases were observed in plasma lipid hydroperoxides from 6.5±2.0 μM to 7.9±1.9 μM (p<0.0001) and the relative concentration of plasma fluorescent products associated with red cell peroxidation from 138±28 RF to 220±92 RF (p<0.005). After exercise there was a rise in the hematocrit from 41.4±3.7% to 44.4±4.1% (p<0.0001), increases in whole blood viscosity at shear rates of 22.5/sec to 450/sec (p<0.0005), an increase in plasma viscosity from 1.27±0.12 cP to 1.36±0.11 cP (p<0.01), an increase in red cell rigidity from 2.44±0.48 cP to 2.62±0.42 cP (p<0.001) and a decrease in erythrocyte sedimentation rate from 26.9±18.6 mm/h to 22.5±15.9 mm/h (p<0.01). The findings suggest that acute aerobic exercise induces oxidative damage to red blood cells and adversely affects rheological properties of the peripheral blood.
