Effects of resistance and endurance training on coronary heart disease biomarker in sedentary obese women

Intracellular adhesion molecule-1 is one of the factors associating obesity and inflammatory lesions like atherosclerosis. This study examined the effects of resistance [R] and endurance [E] training on serum levels of slCAM-1 and lipid profiles in sedentary obese women. Participants included 24 [8 control, 8 RT and 8 ET] obese [BMI>30] women, studied before and after 10 weeks of resistance training [40-60% of 1RM] and swimming endurance training [at 50-60% of HRmax], 3 days/week. Serum levels of slCAM-1, lipid profiles and anthropometric indices were measured at baseline and again 48 hours after training. Statistical analysis was done by paired t-test. ANOVA and Pearson correlation, and P value<0.05 was considered significant. Levels of slCAM-1 [P=0.042], cholesterol [P=0.006] and HDL-C [P=0.006] changed significantly following 10 weeks of endurance and resistance training compared to those of the control group. There was significant decrease in serum levels of slCAM-1 in the both RT [P=0.012, 21.7%] and ET groups [P=0.017, 18.4%]. Although significant changes did not exist in lipid profiles after resistance training [p>0.05], TG [P=0.001], cholesterol [P=0.043] and HDL-C [P=0.002] changed significantly in the endurance training group. Hence there were significant correlations between the primary level of slCAM-1 and primary values of BF% [P=0.031], pelvic [P=0.005] and waist [P=0.006] circumferences following endurance training, whereas changes in the levels of slCAM-1 or lipid profiles and anthropometric markers did not correlate significantly in the resistance training group [p>0.05]. Although decrease in slCAM-1 level may be associated with the beneficial effects of training on body composition or/and lipid profile, further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the effects of resistance training on ICAM-1 level