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The effect of aerobic walking and lower body resistance exercise on serum COMP and hyaluronan, in both males and females

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Abstract

Purpose

To compare the serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and hyaluronan (HA) response to walking (high-repetition loading) and resistance training exercise (low-repetition loading) in males and females.

Methods

15 males (age: 28 ± 6 years; BMI: 24 ± 2; mean ± SD) and 15 females (age: 26 ± 4 years; BMI: 23 ± 2) completed both a 40-min walk at 80% of maximum heart rate and a 40-min lower body resistance training protocol, separated by a minimum of 48 h. Serum COMP and HA were determined at rest, immediately post, and 30-min post exercise. Resting femoral cartilage thickness was also measured using ultrasonography.

Results

COMP increased following walking (28.9%; P < 0.001) and resistance training exercise (26.0%; P < 0.001), remaining above baseline post-exercise following walking (mean difference: +28.3 ng/ml; 95% CI 3.8–52.8 ng/ml; P = 0.02). Although the exercise response did not differ for gender, COMP concentrations were higher in males than in females at all time points (all, P < 0.001). In contrast, HA concentrations did not change following either modality of exercise. However, females demonstrated higher HA pre-exercise (37.7 ± 17.8 vs 26.2 ± 12.8 ng/ml; P = 0.006) and immediately post exercise (38.0 ± 19.0 vs 28.2 ± 15.5 ng/ml; P = 0.033) compared to men. Finally, following adjustment for body size, femoral cartilage thickness was greater in men compared to women (notch: 2.66 vs 1.74 mm, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The effect of a single bout of lower body exercise on serum COMP and HA is independent of exercise modality in healthy men and women. Furthermore, having thicker femoral cartilage and higher baseline COMP in males does not appear to influence how the cartilage responds to exercise.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

COMP:

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

HA:

Hyaluronan

HRmax:

Maximum heart rate

OA:

Osteoarthritis

RM:

Repetition maximum

US:

Ultrasound

VO2max :

Maximum oxygen uptake

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the participants who volunteered for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK

    Harry M. Roberts, Jonathan P. Moore & Jeanette M. Thom

  2. School of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, The Leggett Building, Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford, GU2 7WG, UK

    Harry M. Roberts

  3. School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Jeanette M. Thom

Authors
  1. Harry M. Roberts
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  2. Jonathan P. Moore
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  3. Jeanette M. Thom
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Contributions

HR, JT and JM conceived and designed study; HR collected raw data, and completed the preparation and analyses of blood samples; HR completed all data analyses; HR, JT and JM discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Harry M. Roberts.

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The authors disclose that no funding was received for this work and have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Communicated by Olivier Seynnes.

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Roberts, H.M., Moore, J.P. & Thom, J.M. The effect of aerobic walking and lower body resistance exercise on serum COMP and hyaluronan, in both males and females. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 1095–1105 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3837-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3837-8

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