title: Transcriptional changes in blood after aerobic interval training in patients with the metabolic syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Regular physical activity has beneficial effects on the metabolic syndrome. Eleven metabolic syndrome patients performing 16 weeks of aerobic interval training, significantly reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease, in terms of improved VO2max, endothelial function, blood pressure, insulin signaling, and plasma lipid composition. The knowledge on underlying mechanism of exercise-induced improvements is sparse, and a broad spectrum of methods is needed to gain more insight.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim was, for the first time, to determine whether transcriptional changes occur in blood cells of metabolic syndrome patients after participating in an exercise program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was collected in PAXgene and EDTA tubes before and after 16 weeks of exercise. RNA was extracted and run on microarrays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven biological processes and molecular functions were upregulated after exercise, whereas seven were downregulated. Blood clotting, cell adhesion, and steroid metabolism were among the downregulated processes, whereas steroid hormone-mediated signaling was upregulated. Downregulated protein levels of arginase 1 and von Willebrand factor confirmed microarray results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased transcription of genes involved in steroid hormone-mediated signaling, decreased levels of arginase 1, and reduced transcription of genes involved in cell adhesion, and blood clotting are likely to be involved in exercise-induced improvements of endothelial function, and improved cardiovascular risk profile of metabolic syndrome patients. These findings have provided new insights on exercise-induced improvement of cardiovascular health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bye
authors.forename: Arnt E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Tjønna
authors.forename: Tomas O
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Stølen
authors.forename: Ragnhild E N
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Røsbjørgen
authors.forename: Ulrik
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wisløff
mesh_terms: D001119:Arginase / Q000097:blood; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012313:RNA / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013256:Steroids / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D013256:Steroids; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D012313:RNA; D001119:Arginase