Change in adiponectin and oxidative stress after modifiable lifestyle interventions in breast cancer cases

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent diseases in women today. Little information exists on modifiable lifestyle factors including effects of ginger supplements (as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory herbal) and water-based exercise on biomarkers related to oxidative stress such as malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and adiponectin in obese women with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the single and concomitant effect of 6-wks water-based exercise and oral ginger supplement on the aforesaid markers in obese women with breast cancer.

Forty women diagnosed with breast cancer (48 ± 5.4 years, 76 ± 9 kg, fat mass 41.8 ± 4%), volunteered to participate in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned into four groups; placebo, water-based exercise, ginger supplement and water-based exercise+ginger supplement groups. Subjects in the ginger supplement group and the water-based exercise+ginger supplement group orally received 4 capsules (each capsule contained 750 mg), 7 days a week for 6 weeks. The water-based exercise program featured progressive increase in intensity and time, ranging from 50% to 75% of heart rate reserve, in a pool with 15 meters width, 4 times a week for 6 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected at pre-test and post-test time points.

The ginger supplementation and or the water-base exercise resulted in an increase of adiponectin, NO and GPx and reduction MDA, as compared to pre-test values. However, the combined intervention (water-base exercise and ginger supplement) group showed significantly a far better effect on the biomarkers related to oxidative stress and adiponectin levels, as compared to the water- base exercise or ginger supplement alone groups and the age-matched placebo group.

Our results revealed that water-base exercise is a non-drug therapeutic strategy to reduce systemic stress in obese women suffering from breast cancer. Further, ginger supplementation alone or in combination with training, also play an important role in the pathogenesis of oxidative stress in obese women diagnosed with breast cancer.