Effect of a Combined Exercise Program on the Expression of ABCA5 Gene in White Blood Cells of Middle-aged Men After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

 Cardiovascular diseases are the most prevalent diseases and one of the leading causes of death in the world. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of a combined exercise program on expression of ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter A5 (ABCA5) in middle-aged men after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery.

In this quasi-experimental study, 26 middle-aged men participated who had underwent CABG surgery and were randomly divided into two groups of exercise and control. The combined exercise program included resistance and aerobic exercises for eight weeks (three sessions per week). During this period, the control group had no physical activity. Fasting blood samples were taken for 10-12 hours in two stages before and 48 hours after the study and anthropometric characteristics were also recorded. Dependent t-test was used to examine intra-group differences and independent t-test was used to examine extra-group changes. The analyses were conducted in SPSS software v. 21, considering a significance level of P<0.05.

 The results showed no significant difference in the ABCA5 gene expression between the two groups at baseline, but after eight weeks of combined exercises, its expression increased significantly compared to pretest scores (P=0.001). A significant difference was observed between the two group (P=0.001).

 It seems that the combined exercise program can reduce cholesterol levels by increasing the expression of ABCA5 gene, leading to an increase in endothelial cell health-related factors. It can be used as an appropriate exercise program to improve physiological status in patients with CABG.