The Effect of Nordic Walking on the Galectin 3 and Some New Metabolic Markers in Elderly Men with Osteosarcopenic Obesity

Sarcopenia is the age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength. The main symptom of the condition is muscle weakness.

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of 12 weeks of Nordic walking on the expression of the cardiovascular biomarker galectin 3 gene and some new metabolic markers in elderly men with osteosarcopenic obesity.

Twenty elderly men with a Mean age of 60 to 80 years, who had osteosarcopenic obesity with a body mass index (equal to and above 30) and body fat percentage (equal to and above 30) participated in this research and they were randomly divided into 2 Nordic walking training groups and a control group (10 people in each group). The Nordic walking training program was implemented for 12 weeks and 3 days a week. The intensity of the exercises in each session was 50 to 75% of the maximum heart rate and the duration of each exercise session was 60 minutes.

12 weeks of Nordic walking exercises caused a significant decrease in the circulating levels of galectin-3 (P = 0.001) and a decrease in the TyG-BMI index (P = 0.001) in the subjects. But there was no significant effect on the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) (P = 0.265) and TyG (P = 0.126) and TyG-BMI (P = 0.347) indices of the subjects.

Nordic walking exercise plays an important role in reducing cardiovascular risks by reducing galectin 3 biomarker and atherogenic plasma index (AIP).