Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Sep;42(9):927-32.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2362.2012.02670.x. Epub 2012 Mar 29.

Physical activity and circulating endothelial progenitor cells: an intervention study

Francesca Cesari  1 , Francesco Sofi, Anna M Gori, Ilaria Corsani, Andrea Capalbo, Roberto Caporale, Rosanna Abbate, Gian F Gensini, Alessandro Casini
Affiliations

Physical activity and circulating endothelial progenitor cells: an intervention study

Francesca Cesari et al. Eur J Clin Invest. 2012 Sep.

Abstract

Background: To assess the effect of a personalized physical activity programme on weight and circulating (CPC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in overweight and obese subjects.

Materials and methods: Anthropometric measurements with body composition, cardiopulmonary test, maximal stress exercise test with maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max) ) and a series of biochemical analyses were taken before (T0) and after 3 months of physical activity (T1) in a total of 80 overweight and obese subjects. CPC and EPC were determined using flow cytometry and were defined as CD34+, CD133+ and CD34+/CD133+ for CPC and CD34+KDR+, CD133+KDR+ and CD34+CD133+KDR+ for EPC.

Results: At the end of the programme, we divided the population into two groups, compliant individuals (group A, n = 47) and noncompliant individuals (group B, n = 33). Group A reported significant reductions of weight by 3·1% (P < 0·0001) and fat mass by 4·4% (P < 0·0001), while group B showed a percentage of increase in fat mass by 1·5% at T1. In group A, a trend of increase at T1 for circulating levels of CPC and EPC was observed, reaching the statistical significance for all the three types of EPC. On the contrary, group B showed no significant increase in CPC and EPC. Furthermore, a significant correlation between decrease in fat mass and increase in CD133+/KDR+ EPC was reported in group A (r = 0·50; P = 0·04).

Conclusion: Three months of physical activity significantly improved anthropometric measurements. A beneficial effect of increased number of EPC in compliant individuals, in relation to weight loss, was observed.

PubMed Disclaimer