The Effect of Eight Weeks of Low Intensity Aerobic Exercise on Serum Levels of VIP and ET-1 Hormones in the Non-Athlete Healthy Elderly Women and Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Introduction: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of eight weeks of low intensity aerobic exercise on serum levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and Endothelin-1 (ET-1) hormones in the Non-Athlete Healthy Elderly Women and Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. Methods: 15 females with the coronary artery disease and 15 healthy females were randomly selected for experimental and control groups, respectively. For eight weeks, the participants participated in aerobic exercises three times a week at a constant intensity of 100 ± 10 heart beats per minute. To evaluate VIP and ET-1 hormonal changes, blood samples of all participants were taken 3 times (before, immediately after the last session and 24 hours after last session). Repeated Measures ANOVA test was used to evaluate changes in the VIP, ET-1, and blood pressure. Pearson correlation coefficient Test was used to compare two variables in the control and experimental group. Results: Data analysis did not show any significant difference in the levels of VIP and ET-1 serum before, immediately after and 24 hours after the 24th session in the control group (P=0.52 and P=0.15, respectively) and the patients group (P=0.46 and P=0.22, respectively). Conclusion: Low intensity aerobics exercise will not change the serum VIP and ET-1 levels in the elderly women. Even though this result showed the same amount of VIP and ET-1 level in the healthy women and the patients with coronary artery diseases, the conclusion is that cardiac patients can undergo the progressive exercise programs and withstand higher intensity of exercise.