Plasma triglyceride, effect exercise

Recognition of a beneficial effect of exercise on the Incidence of CHD has led to numerous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies designed to examine the Influence of physical activity on major coronary risk factors, with particular emphasis on plasma lipids and lipoproteins. A number of comprehensive reviews have summarized these studies (14-18). In general. In cross-sectional studies, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is elevated (14) and total plasma and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglycerides are lower In endurance trained subjects than In sedentary control subjects (14). In a study of 23 top-level male athletes, Lehtonen and Vllkarl (19) found a statistically significant relationship between the number of kilometers that the athletes ran or skied weekly and their plasma HDL cholesterol concentration (P<0.05 r=0.554). Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol Is frequently lower, and plasma total cholesterol Is Inconsistently lower In trained subjects (19). 

Seelbach and Kris-Etherton (72) recently examined the effect of a vigorous ten-week exercise program on hepatic lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride production in obese and lean Zucker rats. (The obese Zucker rat has a marked hyperlipidemia with elevations of all plasma lipoprotein fractions, and the lean Zucker rat has a plasma lipoprotein profile similar to that of other lean rats. The use of both lean and obese strains provides information on the effect of exercise on hepatic lipoprotein production and... 

In addition to physical activity independendy affecting plasma lipid levels, a combination of interventions, including diet and exerdse regimens, has been shown to be effective at positively altering plasma lipid profiles. Decreased saturated fat intake and exercise incorporation induce complementary effects on plasma lipid levels, the combination of which shows a more optimal plasma hpid profile than either intervention alone."" The modification in dietary lipid intake complements the reduced levels of plasma HDL cholesterol and triglycerides often seen by an increase in physical activity. Therapies involving both a low-saturated-fat diet and exercise incorporation lowered plasma total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride... 

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