Racial differences in postprandial oxidative stress with and without acute exercise.

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Nutritional Biochemistry
• Health Disparities

Background:

• High-kilocalorie meals can induce oxidative stress.
• Acute exercise may potentially reduce postprandial oxidative stress.
• Racial differences in postprandial oxidative stress responses to exercise are not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of acute exercise on blood oxidative-stress biomarkers, triglycerides (TAG), and glucose.
• To compare these effects between African American (AA) and White (W) women.

Main Methods:

• A randomized crossover design involving 10 AA and 10 W women.
• Participants consumed a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal on two occasions: with and without a preceding 45-minute aerobic exercise session.
• Blood samples were analyzed for TAG, glucose, xanthine oxidase activity, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and malondialdehyde (MDA) at multiple time points post-meal.

Main Results:

• Area under the curve (AUC) for H2O2, MDA, and TAG was significantly lower in AA women compared to W women, irrespective of exercise.
• Acute exercise did not significantly decrease the AUC for any measured variable in either racial group.

Conclusions:

• Overweight/obese African American women demonstrate lower postprandial lipemia and oxidative stress than their White counterparts.
• The specific acute exercise protocol used in this study did not influence postprandial lipemia or oxidative stress in either AA or W women.