Effects of 12-week Aerobic Exercise on Arterial Stiffness, Inflammation, and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Women with Systemic LUPUS Erythematosus: Non-Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of 12-week aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness (primary outcome), inflammation, oxidative stress, and cardiorespiratory fitness (secondary outcomes) in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In a non-randomized clinical trial, 58 women with SLE were assigned to either aerobic exercise (n = 26) or usual care (n = 32). The intervention comprised 12 weeks of aerobic exercise (2 sessions × 75 min/week) between 40⁻75% of the individual's heart rate reserve. At baseline and at week 12, arterial stiffness was assessed through pulse wave velocity (PWV), inflammatory (i.e., high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], tumor necrosis factor alpha [TFN-α], and inteleukin 6 [IL-6]) and oxidative stress (i.e., myeloperoxidase [MPO]) markers were obtained from blood samples, and cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed (Bruce test). There were no between-group differences in the changes in arterial stiffness (median PWV difference -0.034, 95% CI -0.42 to 0.36 m/s; p = 0.860) or hsCRP, TNF-α, IL-6, and MPO (all p > 0.05) at week 12. In comparison to the control group, the exercise group significantly increased cardiorespiratory fitness (median difference 2.26 minutes, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.55; p = 0.001). These results suggest that 12 weeks of progressive treadmill aerobic exercise increases cardiorespiratory fitness without exacerbating arterial stiffness, inflammation, or oxidative stress in women with SLE.

Keywords: aerobic fitness; atherosclerosis; autoimmune diseases; exercise; inflammatory disease; lupus; physical fitness; physical function; pulse wave velocity; vascular health.

Figure 1

Flow chart of the study participants throughout the study.

Figure 2

Graphical representation of the effects of the 12-week progressive aerobic exercise intervention. Results derived from the primary analyses (i.e., per-protocol with a minimum attendance of 75% for participants in the exercise group to be included). PWV, pulse wave velocity; hsCRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-6, interleukin-6; MPO, myeloperoxidase; CRF, cardiorespiratory fitness; HR_max, maximal heart rate.