Serum lipid profile in pubescent athletes

Physical activity has a beneficial effect on the serum lipid profile in adolescent and mature humans. The aim of the study was to compare the basic serum lipid parameters of pubescent athletes practicing different sports with those of untrained boys and girls and to investigate the relationship between the variations of the values of these variables and the respective type of sport practiced. 876 highly trained athletes (559 boys and 317 girls) were included in this study. Their mean (+/- SD) age, weight and duration of training were: 14.01 +/- 1.78 years; 56.24 +/- 15.39 kg, and 3.52 +/- 2.07 years. The control group consisted of 357 untrained subjects (171 boys and 186 girls) with mean (+/- SD) age and weight 14.58 +/- 1.70 years and 57.75 +/- 12.66 kg. The group of athletes was divided into seven subgroups according to the sport practiced: athletics (n = 105), swimming (n = 107), rowing (n = 233), wrestling, box and judo (n = 225), weight lifting (n = 47), various team sports (n = 92), and other sports (n = 67). Venous blood samples were drawn from the cubital vein and the concentrations of serum total cholesterol (CHOL), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) were measured. Statistical indices were computed for each group and for each variable, and analysis of variance factorial analysis was performed to evaluate the statistical significance of the differences detected. The CHOL in highly trained group was found lower than in the control group (3.93 +/- 0.89 vs. 4.31 +/- 0.76 mmol/l, p < 0.001), and in highly trained boys the CHOL was lower than in highly trained girls (3.88 +/- 0.71 vs. 4.02 +/- 0.89 mmol/l, p < 0.01). The HDL-C was lower in the trained group in comparison with the control one (1.43 +/- 0.59 vs. 1.60 +/- 0.57 mmol/l, p < 0.001). No differences were found in HDL-C between boys and girls in both trained and control group. Serum TG were higher in highly trained group than in controls (1.01 +/- 0.59 vs. 0.89 +/- 0.38 mmol/l, p < 0.001). The results of the study indicate that (a) trained pubescents have lower serum total cholesterol than untrained boys and girls of the same age; (b) trained pubescent boys have lower serum total cholesterol than trained pubescent girls; (c) the level of serum TG is not relevant to the type of physical exercise in pubescence; (d) long-term sport practicing is not able to decrease serum HDL-C levels in both sexes; (e) sport affects serum total cholesterol to a greater degree than does sex in pubescence.