The Effect of Three Types of Resistance Training, Aerobic, Combined on Serum Levels of Growth Differentiating Factor (GDF-15) in Active Elderly Men

Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a marker of inflammation, oxidative stress and it is associated with adverse prognosis in cardiovascular disease. GDF-15 as a predictor for various types of cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, are affected by training and sports activity. The effect of eight weeks of resistance, aerobic, and combined training on the salivary levels of GDF-15 in active older men was investigated.

The 36 cases were randomly divided into three groups of 12 (1. resistance training, 2. aerobic training, and 3. combined training). The serum GDF-15 salivary value in cases was estimated and recorded using a sandwich ELISA by special kits. After eight weeks of training protocols the datawere analyzed by paired t-test and Scheffe post hoc test to examine the differences between groups by SPSS software.

The results showed that the amount of salivary GDF-15 significantly increased after aerobic exercise by 6.4%, decreased after resistance training by 18.05%, and was unchanged after combination training.

Based on our findings, surprisingly, resistance exercise had a positive and significant effect on enhancing risk factors and reducing the salivary levels of GDF-15.