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Background and objectives: Cardiovascular disease is one of the most important causes of mortality worldwide. The present study aimed to compare two different cardiac rehabilitation protocols on ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 1 (ABCG1) lymphocyte expression and blood lipid profile in middle-aged men undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.
Methods: Forty five middle-aged men who had previously undergone coronary artery bypass surgery were randomly divided into three groups of control (C; n=15), aerobic training (AT; n=15) and combined training (CT; n=15). Blood samples were taken before the first and after the last exercise sessions. After isolation of mononuclear cells using Ficoll and mRNA purification, gene expression changes were examined by real-time PCR. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests.
Results: Eight weeks of training intervention resulted in a significant increase in ABCG1 expression as well as a significant decrease in plasma levels of LDL, triglyceride and total cholesterol in both training groups. However, there was no significant difference between the AT and CT groups. In addition, high-density lipoprotein was significantly increased in the AT and CT groups.
Conclusion: Both AT and CT can increase plasma LDL and increase ABCG1 expression and HDL concentrations, indicating the positive effects of both interventions on the prevention of atherosclerosis.