Estrogen receptor-alpha genotype affects exercise-related reduction of arterial stiffness.
OBJECTIVE
Arterial stiffness, an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, increases with advancing age. Arterial stiffness is improved by regular exercise, but individual responses to exercise training are variable. Given that estrogen and estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) can induce vasodilation and can exert an antiatherosclerotic effect in vessels, we hypothesized that gene polymorphisms of ER-alpha might influence the ability of regular exercise to improve arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women.


METHODS
One hundred ninety-five healthy postmenopausal women (62 +/- 6 yr, mean +/- SD) participated in our cross-sectional study. We determined the genotype of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) at -401T/C of intron 1 of the ER-alpha gene. Arterial stiffness was measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and daily physical activity was estimated by a uniaxial accelerometer. Subjects were divided into active and inactive groups according to the median value (200 kcal.d(-1)) of energy expenditure.


RESULTS
baPWV in individuals with the TT variant of -401T/C genotype were significantly higher than for individuals with the TC+CC genotype. No significant differences in mean baPWV values were found between the active group and the inactive group (P = 0.09). A significant reduction of baPWV secondary to increased daily physical activity was observed in individuals with the TC+CC genotype but not in individuals with the TT genotype (TT/active: 1470 +/- 36 cm.s(-1); TT/inactive: 1457 +/- 34 cm.s(-1); TC+CC/active: 1359 +/- 21 cm.s(-1); TC+CC/inactive: 1433 +/- 24 cm.s(-1)).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that ER-alpha polymorphism affects the regular exercise-related reduction in arterial stiffness in healthy postmenopausal women.
Hayashi
Koichiro
K
Department of Music, Sapporo Otani University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
Maeda
Seiji
S
Iemitsu
Motoyuki
M
Otsuki
Takeshi
T
Sugawara
Jun
J
Tanabe
Takumi
T
Miyauchi
Takashi
T
Kuno
Shinya
S
Ajisaka
Ryuichi
R
Matsuda
Mitsuo
M
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D050379:Arteriolosclerosis; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004548:Elasticity; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000502:physiology*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology
D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha