Effect of Home-based Aerobic Exercise on Leukocyte TERT Gene Expression Without Altering DNA Oxidative Damage in Postmenopausal Women

In middle-aged women, the postmenopausal period is associated with increased oxidative, inflammatory, and psychological stress. We intend to investigate the effect of home-based aerobic exercise (HAE) on serum levels of 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-C) and the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in leukocytes of postmenopausal women.

A total of 20 sedentary postmenopausal women who had at least 12 months passed since their last menstruation participated in the study voluntarily. Their Mean±SD age, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were respectively 52.4±3.8 years, 161.4±3.7 cm, 74.4±6.8 kg, and 28.6±3.4 kg/m2. They were randomly divided into two groups: Home-based aerobic exercise (HAE, n=10) and inactive control (CON, n=10). HAE group undertook 4 weeks of home-based aerobic exercise (4 d/wk, intensity: 70%-80% maximal heart rate) with online supervision. Participants’ weight and fasting blood samples (12-h fasting state) were measured and taken before and 48 hours after the intervention. TERT expression in blood leukocytes and serum levels of 8-OHDG were assessed by real-time PCR and ELISA methods, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using mixed (2×2) repeated measure ANOVA and independent samples t-test in SPSS software. A significance level of P<0.05 was considered for all tests.

The findings showed that 4 weeks of HAE increased TERT expression significantly compared to the CON (ES=0.40, P<0.05). Although 8-OHDG serum level in the HAE group increased following training compared to pre-training (P<0.05), no significant difference was observed between the CON and HAE groups (P>0.05). Also, the interaction effect on 8-OHDG was not significant (ES=0.11, P>0.05). In addition, after 4 weeks of HAE, body weight and BMI significantly decreased in the training group compared to the control (P<0.05).

According to these findings, HEA effectively reduces telomere erosion and improves weight control in postmenopausal women.