The Association of Physical Activity and Physical Fitness Levels with Liver Enzymes in COVID-19 Patients

Introduction: Exercise is one of the lifestyle interventions recommended to reduce liver damage and improve health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness with the liver enzymes of COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: Four hundred patients infected with COVID-19 (57.6±14.6, body mass 28.1±4.7 kg/m2) admitted to the Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran participated in the present study. After Introducing with the work procedure, Beck and Stanford’s questionnaires were used to check their physical activity. Each participant filled out the physical fitness self-assessment questionnaire to self-report his/her physical fitness. Fasting blood samples were taken to measure aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase.Results: The statistical analysis of the collected data revealed a significant correlation between physical activity with aspartate aminotransferase (p=0.035) and alanine aminotransferase (P=0.001), and there was a difference between different levels of physical activity. The results also showed is no significant relationship between alanine (p=0.068) and aspartate aminotransferase (p=0.375) with physical fitness. However, there was no significant relationship between physical activity and physical fitness with alkaline phosphatase (p =0.271) and lactate dehydrogenase (p =0.311). Conclusion: According to the findings, it can be concluded that regular physical activity prior to COVID-19 infection is associated with high levels of liver alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase.