Effects of prolonged swimming and football training programs on the C-reactive protein (CRP), homocysteine and fibrinogen concentrations in the serum of young boys

Introduction: It appears that some risk factors for coronary heart diseases (CHD) initiate their influence in the childhood period and their clinical complications start to take effect in adulthood. It is possible that adolescent active or sedentary boys, have other inflammatory silent risk factors of CHD, in addition to routine risk factors such as lipid profile. However, the scientific data available about the effects of aerobic exercise, physical fitness and nutritional status on the biochemistry indices of cardiovascular system (CVS) inflammatory response, such as homocysteine (HST), fibrinogen (FBG) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are contradictory. Methods: 42 volunteer boys from the city of Tehran (age: 10-14 years, BMI: 11-17 kg/m2 daily energy intake: 2477-2762 kcal) participated in the study and were divided in 3 groups of football players, swimmers and control group. The athletes had regular trainings for the last 3 year. Results: ANOVA-one way analysis of variance indicated that serum HST concentration in the swimmers (12.01 ± 2.08 mmol/l) was significantly lower than HST levels of the football players (11.14 ± 2.8 mmol/l) (F=3.8, P=0.31). The FBG levels did not show any significant difference among athletic groups. Moreover, CRP concentrations of different groups were not significantly changed. Conclusion: Prolonged swimming training, BMI magnitude, initial physiological fitness level and the quantity of weekly training (not work intensity) could probably affect the biochemical markers (nontraditional risk factors) of cardiovascular system in young athletes.