A comparative study of the effects of endurance and resistance exercise training on PON1 and lipid profile levels in obese men

Purpose Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is an HDL-associated enzyme that is a main preventive factor for oxidizing lipids and forming oxide LDL. There are contradictory studies about the effects of exercise training on PON1 levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of endurance or resistance exercise training on PON1 and lipid profile levels in obese men. Methods Twenty-six obese men, were divided into three groups: endurance training ( n = 9), resistance training ( n = 9) and control ( n = 8). Both of the training groups participated in 4 weeks of resistance and endurance training, respectively, with intensity of 65–80 % maximum heart rate and 60–80 % 1RM. Results After 4 weeks of endurance and resistance training, a significant decrease was observed in weight (respectively, P = 0.010 and P = 0.012) and body fat percentage (respectively, P = 0.006 and P = 0.006), while PON1 levels significantly increased in aerobic groups (296.11 ± 255.3 vs. 342.2 ± 284.6 nmol/l, p = 0.039) and LDL levels (123.55 ± 20.15 vs. 111.33 ± 36.74 mg/dl, p = 0.05) significantly decreased. In contrast, in resistance training and control groups, we did not observe any significant changes in cholesterol, TG, LDL, HDL levels. In addition, a significant correlation was not observed between PON1 levels and anthropometric and metabolic parameters between groups ( p > 0.05). Conclusion The results of this research indicate that endurance training can be used as an effective factor to reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease in obese men.