Exercise training improves lipoprotein lipid profiles in patients with coronary artery disease

The effects of endurance exercise training on plasma lipoprotein lipids were determined in 10 men, ages 46 to 62 years, with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients maintained body weight, health-related behaviors, and stable diets throughout the program. Training was at 50% to 85% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) for 40 to 60 minutes, 3 to 5 days/week for 29 +/- 7 weeks. Training increased VO2 max (31 +/- 19%, p less than 0.001), reduced plasma cholesterol (C) (-8 +/- 4%, p less than 0.01), low-density lipoprotein-C (LDL-C) (-9 +/- 9%, p less than 0.01), and triglyceride (TG) (-13 +/- 32%, p less than 0.05) concentrations, and increased high-density lipoprotein-C (HDL-C) levels (11 +/- 13%, p less than 0.05) and HDL-C/LDL-C ratios (25 +/- 20%, p less than 0.01). Changes in LDL-C and VO2 max were correlated (r = -0.73, p +/- 0.01), while the changes in LDL-C and HDL-C each correlated inversely with pretraining lipoprotein levels (rLDL-C = -0.77, p less than 0.01; rHDL-C = -0.68, p less than 0.05). Thus potentially "antiatherogenic" benefits of exercise seem to be due to a training effect, since they correlate best with changes in VO2 max and are maximal in patients with initially low VO2 max, high LDL-C, and low HDL-C levels.