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Abstract
Objective. Physical activity (PA) may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by inducing beneficial changes in several risk factors. We studied the associations between PA and a range of risk markers of CHD in young adults.
Methods and results. We measured serum lipoproteins, oxidized LDL, adipokines, inflammatory markers, metabolic markers, and arginine metabolites in 2,268 individuals (age 24–39 y). Participants were asked frequency, duration, and intensity of PA in leisure time. In addition, commuting to work was assessed. In both sexes, PA was inversely associated with waist circumference (all P < 0.0001). After controlling for sex, age, and waist circumference, PA was directly associated with HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1, and inversely with heart rate, smoking, oxidized LDL, apolipoprotein B, insulin, glucose, C-reactive protein, leptin, L-arginine, and phospholipase A2 activity (all P < 0.05).
Conclusion. These population-based data are consistent with the idea that the beneficial effects of PA on CHD risk are mediated by favorable influences on several risk factors, as judged by independent relations to markers of lipoprotein metabolism, glucose metabolism, and inflammation. These associations reflect beneficial effects on cardiovascular health in both sexes and may offer mechanistic insights for the inverse association between PA and CHD.
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Acknowledgements
Irina Lisinen and Ville Aalto are acknowledged for skillful data management and analysis. This study was financially supported by the Academy of Finland (grants no. 77841, 210283, 121584, and 34316), the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the Turku University Foundation, the Juho Vainio Foundation, Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Research funds from the Tampere and Turku University Hospitals, the Research Foundation of Orion Corporation, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Declaration of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest and have received no payment in preparation of this manuscript.