Systemic
oxidative stress plays a role in many
degenerative diseases. Although regular physical activity has been known as the most effective nonpharmacological intervention to alleviate the
oxidative stress, the beneficial effect varies between individuals. We investigated whether
NADPH oxidase p22phox gene C242T and A640G polymorphisms are associated with systemic
oxidative stress level response to exercise training (ExTr). Fifty-nine
sedentary middle-aged to older Caucasians with relatively high
cardiovascular disease risk factors underwent a 6-mo standardized ExTr program.
Body mass index, plasma lipoprotein-lipid profiles,
cardiovascular fitness, and plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were measured before and after ExTr. Demographic and initial levels of
cardiovascular disease risk factors were similar among
genotype groups for both polymorphisms. Overall, TBARS was decreased by 16% with ExTr in the entire group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in TBARS changes with ExTr among the C242T
genotype groups. However, A
allele carriers showed greater reduction in TBARS than noncarriers at the A640G locus (P = 0.05). There was a significant interaction (P = 0.05) between ExTr and A640G polymorphism in TBARS changes with ExTr. This interaction remained after accounting for age and baseline TBARS level. Furthermore, diplotype analysis showed that TBARS was decreased to a greater extent in the C242/A640
haplotype carriers compared with the noncarriers (P < 0.05). We found that p22phox polymorphisms, especially A640G, were associated with differential changes in systemic
oxidative stress with aerobic exercise training.
