Does Regular Physical Exercise Preserve Artery Dilation by Lowering Nox2-Related Oxidative Stress?

Abstract

Habitual physical activity has beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk reduction by improving vascular function but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. To address this issue, we performed a cross-sectional study comparing 50 physically active (PA) adults with 50 sedentary controls matched for age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors. PA subjects had significantly higher flow-mediated dilation (FMD) than controls and higher serum levels of nitrite/nitrate, a marker of nitric oxide generation. In addition, PA subjects showed lower levels of urinary isoprostanes, a marker of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and lower serum levels of sNox2-dp, a validated assay to measure Nox2 activity, one of the most important enzymes producing ROS in the blood cells. FMD was independently correlated with sNox2-dp, after adjusting for possible confounding factors. Our observation leads to the hypothesis that, in adults, regular exercise preserves artery dilation through Nox2 decreased activity. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 1576-1581.

Impact of Physical Activity on Oxidative Stress Markers in Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer

“…In contrast to GPX activity, the prooxidant enzyme NOX activity in the leucocytes was negatively associated with the physical activity level (IPAQ score) at baseline, and more importantly, leucocyte NOX activity changes are negatively associated with changes in physical activity and fitness (Figure 2). NOX being involved in the superoxide production, physical activity level may protect from ROS production via the NOX pathway as it has been shown recently in healthy subjects [33]. Many mechanisms have been described to explain the downregulation of NOX activity by regular physical activity [34]; however, the reduction of fat tissue during physical activity intervention might be the most plausible since obesity upregulates the systemic expression of NOX [35].…”