The Effect of Exercise Therapy on Serum Lipid Level and Antioxidants of Obese College Female Students

Jung, Eun Sook

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of exercise therapy on serum lipid levels and antioxidants of obese and normal college female students. The subject group composed of ten normal-weight students(below 30% body fat ratio) and ten obese students(above 30% body fat ratio). After a pilot test, the subjects were given an eight-weeks exercise program. Before and after the exercise program, the subjects were given test for serum lipid and antioxidants were analyzed. The SAS program was used in the data analysis. The statistical measurements employed here were T-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test. The results of this research are as follows. 1) The effects of exercise therapy on serum lipid levels; Before the exercise therapy, the levels of Total-cholesterol, Triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol of the obese group were higher than those of the normal-weight group. However, the HDL-cholesterol levels were higher in the normal-weight group than in the obese group, but these differences were not significant. With the exercise therapy, the levels of Total-cholesterol increased gradually. The HDL-cholesterol increased gradually, the LDL-cholesterol level decreased in both groups, However, the Triglyceride level decreased in the obese group and increased in normal group, but the difference was not significant. 2) The effects of the exercise therapy on serum antioxidants; Before exercise therapy, the serum FR and GSSG levels of the obese group were significantly higher than those if the normal-weight group(p=0.00, p=0.04). The serum GSH level of the normal-weight group was higher than that of the obese group, and the serum MDA level of the obese group was higher than that of the normal-weight group. Again these differences were not significant. With exercise therapy, serum FR level was reduced and serum GSSG level significantly increased in both group(obese group p=0.01, normal-weight group p=0.01), The serum GSH level of the obese group significantly increased(p=0.01), and serum MDA level significantly increase in the obese group(p=0.01), but the difference in the normal-weight group was not significant. These results show that regular exercise therapy reduces serum FR levels and activation of antioxidant systems, and suppress oxidative stress. These effects were slightly higher in the obese group than in the normal-weight group. The regular exercise therapy decrease the serum Triglyceride levels more in the obese group than in the normal-weight group. However the improvement of the serum lipid profile may require a longer exercise period than eight weeks. The results show that the exercise therapy was overall more effective in the obese group than the normal-weight group.