Moderate exercise and fibrinolytic potential in obese sedentary men with metabolic syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the impact of 30-minute walking exercise at 70% VO2max on tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) Ag and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) Ag in obese sedentary males.
Research Methods and Procedures: A controlled observational study of the effect of a 30-minute acute exercise bout at 70% VO2max on plasma t-PA antigen and PAI-1 antigen in 10 obese sedentary males matched for age, ethnic origin, and smoking status with 10 nonobese sedentary male controls.
Results: The obese group remained hypofibrinolytic compared with the nonobese group at all time-points before, during, and after exercise. t-PA increased in both groups with exercise before returning to baseline values 30 minutes after exercise. PAI-1 did not significantly change in either group with exercise but rose significantly 30 minutes after exercise in the obese group.
Discussion: The reduction in fibrinolytic potential in the obese group represents an increase in acute thrombotic risk and could account for the increased incidence of exercise-associated myocardial infarction observed in sedentary obese groups.