β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) is a bioactive metabolite formed from breakdown of the branched-chain amino acid leucine. Given the popularity of HMB supplements among different athletes, specifically, those who engage in regular resistance training, this review was performed to summarize current literature on some aspects of HMB supplementation that have received less attention. Because of the small number of published studies, it has not been possible to conclude the exact effects of HMB on cardiovascular parameters, oxidative stress and inflammatory markers. Thus, the interpretation of outcomes should be taken cautiously. However, the data presented here suggest that acute HMB supplementation may attenuate pro-inflammatory response following an intense resistance exercise in athletes. Also, the available findings collectively indicate that chronic HMB consumption in conjunction with resistance training has no more adaptive advantages associated with decreasing cardiovascular risk factors and oxidative stress markers. Taken together, there is clearly a need for further well-designed, longer duration studies to support these findings and determine whether HMB supplementation affects the adaptations induced by resistance training associated with body’s inflammatory condition, antioxidative defense system, and cardiovascular risk factors in humans.

Exercise can ameliorate cardiovascular dysfunctions in diabetes condition, but its precise molecular mechanisms have not been entirely understood. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of endurance training on expression of angiogenesis-related genes in cardiac tissue of diabetic rats. Thirty adults male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (N=10) including diabetic training (DT), sedentary diabetes (SD), and sedentary healthy (SH) in which diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (30 mg/kg). Endurance training (ET) with moderate-intensity was performed on a motorized treadmill for six weeks. Training duration and treadmill speed were increased during five weeks, but they were kept constant at the final week and slope was zero at all stages. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) analysis was used to measure the expression of myocyte enhancer factor-2C (MEF2C), histone deacetylase-4 (HDAC4) and Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in cardiac tissues of the rats. Our results demonstrated that six weeks of ET increased gene expression of MEF2C significantly (P<0.05), and caused a significant reduction in HDAC4 and CaMKII gene expression in the DT rats compared to the SD rats (P<0.05). We concluded that moderate-intensity ET could play a critical role in ameliorating cardiovascular dysfunction in a diabetes condition by regulating the expression of some angiogenesis-related genes in cardiac tissues.

Acute intense exercise causes significant oxidative stress and consequently an increase in total antioxidant capacity; however, the mechanisms and combined effects of intense exercise and smoking on oxidative stress among active and non-active smokers are not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acute intense exercise on antioxidant enzyme activity responses in active and non-active individuals exposed to cigarette smoke. The study included 40 subjects who were equally classified as: smokers that did exercise (SE), smokers that did not do exercise (SnE), non-smokers that did exercise (NSE), and non-smokers that did not do exercise (NSnE). The adjusted Astrand test was used to exhaust the subjects. Salivary enzymes of peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured, by spectrophotometry methods, at 3 different time points: pre-test (TP1), post-test (TP2), and one hour after finishing the test (TP3). Significant (p<0.05) group x time interactions were found for the three enzymes. Salivary POX, CAT and SOD increased in all groups from TP1 to TP2 and decreased from TP2 to TP3. Only the NSE showed a significant difference between TP1 to TP3 in POX and SOD by +0.011 ± 0.007 and +0.075 ± 0.02 (U/ml), respectively. The NSE showed significantly higher levels of POX, CAT and SOD in TP2 compared to the other groups. Furthermore, NSE and NSnE had higher levels of POX, CAT and SOD in TP1 and TP3 (p<0.05) compared with SE and SnE. Only in the NSnE, were no differences observed in CAT compared with SE and SnE in TP3. These results showed that the antioxidant level at rest and in the recovery time after the acute intense exercise was lower in SE and SnE compared with NSE and NSnE, suggesting that smoking habit may reduce the ameliorating effect of regular physical activity on acute exercise-induced oxidative stress.