Relationship of physical activity and fitness to lipid and lipoprotein (a)in elderly subjects

Purpose: To determine, both by a cross-sectional and longitudinal study des ign, the relationship of maximal oxygen consumption ((V)over dotO(2max)) an d physical activity (PA) to blood lipids and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] in a po pulation of healthy and weight-stable elderly volunteers aged 66-84 yr. Met hods: In a cross-sectional study in 52 subjects (23 men and 29 women), all independent variables (age, anthropometric, (V)over dot O-2max and PA indic es) were used in a multiple stepwise regression analysis to select variable s influencing lipid and lipoprotein parameters. In a prospective noninterve ntion study, 38 subjects (17 men and 21 women) were reexamined after 6 mont hs. Results: In a cross-sectional study, sports activity index contributed significantly to total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL) chol esterol (LDL-C), TC/high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C) rati o, and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio variance in men, whereas (V)over dot O-2max accoun ted for 23% variance of apolipoprotein A-I in women. In a prospective study , there was no indication that any measured variable was correlated with ab solute or relative changes in PA indices in the total group or when analyze d by gender. Conclusions: These data confirm that favorable relationship be tween PA/fitness and blood lipid profile is visible in elderly people but s pontaneous changes in habitual PA are not a sufficient stimulus to alter se rum lipid and lipoprotein levels in this population. Furthermore, there is no direct association between Lp(a) levels and PA, fitness, or body composi tion in the elderly men and women.