Report of Health Care Original Article Volume 4, Issue 4, 2018, p. 38-46 The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Homocysteine, C- Reactive Protein and Lipid Profile in Active and Inactive Men Mehrdad Fathi * 1 , Elham Pouryamehr 2 1. Department of Sport Physiology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran 2. Department of Sport Physiology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran Introduction Arteriosclerosis is the most important cause of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis causes the various arteries that go to different parts of the body gradually become hard and narrow and decreases their ability to transmit oxygen and nutrients to the cells of the body. Some factors can accelerate the onset of arteriosclerosis which they increase the chance of developing cardiovascular disease (1). Studies have shown that some people with normal density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein have also been affected by cardiovascular disease (2, 3). Therefore, it is important to pay attention to indices that predict the risk of cardiovascular disease with greater accuracy and sensitivity (4). Some of these indices include C-reactive protein (CRP), insulin resistance, homocysteine (Hcy), fibrinogen and lipoprotein A (lp (a)) (5, 6). CRP is a stable marker of systemic inflammation produced in response to inflammatory cytokines and the alpha-receptor factor (lipoprotein secretion) in the liver (7). Studies have shown that CRP is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease and has high levels of blood circulating in obese people and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, it seems that reduction of CRP levels is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular http://jrhc.miau.ac.ir Abstract Introduction: A number of studies have reported that regular aerobic exercises can improve cardiovascular biomarkers such as homocysteine, C- reactive protein and lipid profile. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 4 weeks of aerobic exercise on homocysteine, C- reactive protein and lipid profile in active and inactive men. Methods: in this quasi-experimental study, 26 active (n = 13) and inactive (n = 13) students aged (18- 23) years old participated voluntarily. All subject performed aerobic exercises for 4 weeks, 3 sessions per week and 60 minutes with intensity of 60- 75 % of maximum heart rate reserve per session. Blood sample was taken in the pretest and 24 hours after the last aerobic exercise session in the post- test. Independent sample t- test and paired sample t- test were used to analyze the data (p≤0.05). Results: Serum levels of homocysteine (P = 0.001) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.003) significantly decreased in the active group compared to the inactive group. However, there were no significant difference in the changes of C-reactive protein (P = 0.12), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.56), triglyceride (P = 0.24), total cholesterol (P = 0.21), total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein (P = 0.52) and triglyceride to high density lipoprotein (P = 0.26), between active and inactive group. Conclusion: It appears that serum levels of homocysteine reduced further after four weeks of exercise in active subjects in comparison with inactive subjects. However, the improvement in the serum levels of C-reactive protein and lipid profiles after four weeks of exercise training were the same in both active and inactive individuals. Keywords: Exercise, C- Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, Lipid Profile Received: 4 April 2018 Accepted: 1 August 2018 Published online: 1 October 2018 *Corresponding author: Mehrdad Fathi. Department of Exercise Physiology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Phone: +989152570058 Fax: +985138829580 Email: mfathei@um.ac.ir Competing interests: The authors declare that no competing interests exist. Citation: Fathi M, Pouryamehr E. The effect of aerobic exercise on homocysteine, C- reactive protein and lipid profile in active and inactive men. Rep Health Care. 2018; 4 (4): 38- 46.