Submitted on June 18, 2004
Accepted on December 6, 2004
Relationship of Physical Fitness, Hormone Replacement Therapy and Hemostatic Risk Factors in Postmenopausal Women
Linda M Szymanski1, Craig M Kessler2, and Bo Fernhall3*
1 Department of OBGYN, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA
2 Hematology Research Laboratory, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
3 Exercise Science Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fernhall{at}uiuc.edu.
This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship of physical fitness, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and hemostatic profiles at rest and following an acute bout of maximal exercise in 48 healthy postmenopausal women. Subjects were categorized by fitness and HRT user status into 4 groups: unfit nonusers, fit nonusers, unfit users, and fit users. Fibrinolytic variables tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity and antigen and prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2), a molecular marker of in vivo thrombin generation, were measured before and after maximal exercise. Fibrinogen was also measured at rest. Higher tPA and lower PAI-1 activities (p<.05) were seen in HRT users and Fit groups. tPA and PAI-1 antigens were lower in HRT and Fit groups (p<.05), but not after correction for BMI. Prothrombin fragment 1+2 was lower in the Fit groups, regardless of HRT status (p<.05). Fibrinogen was similar in all groups. Favorable hemostatic profiles were observed in physically fit compared to unfit women, especially in HRT nonusers. Thus, fitness is more strongly related to these hemostatic risk factors compared to HRT, as HRT did not affect these hemostatic variables in fit postmenopausal women.
