Effects of aerobic training on some inflammatory markers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more prevalent in women than men and its incidence is in all age group. Patient with RA significantly experience more disability and co-morbidities including cardiovascular diseases in compared with people without RA and this is due to reduced physical activities in the patients. The effect of aerobic training on patients with RA is still unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 8 weeks aerobic training in patients with RA. Twenty three women (mean age 51.96±7.73 yr and mean weight 72.37±10 kg) with a diagnosis of RA for more than three years and without any known cardiovascular and brain symptoms were voluntarily enrolled in the study. The patients were divided into aerobic training (n=11) and control groups (n=12). The patients in the aerobic group performed an aerobic training using a stationary bike (3 d/wk for 8 weeks). All subjects in this group were administered the same medicine at the same dose. A fasting blood sample was collected prior to and after 8 weeks of aerobic training from the patients. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen and rheumatoid factor (RF) were measured using standard methods. There was a significant difference in CRP, fibrinogen and body mass index before and after 8 weeks of aerobic training in the experimental group (P≤ 0.001), but not in the control group. Moreover, no significant difference between the control group and experimental group with respect to all studied variables. These findings showed that aerobic training could reduce inflammation in patients with RA and consequently plays an important role in preventing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in these patients. Therefore, we recommend the use of aerobic exercise training as a safe therapeutic method for reduceing the dosage of the anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with RA.