Abstract
Background and objective: Recent studies suggest that pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is essential in the management of COPD. However, the effect of PR on oxidants and antioxidants in erythrocytes is only partially understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether PR improves not only exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQL), but also the oxidant/antioxidant imbalance in erythrocytes.
Methods: Twelve stable COPD patients participated in PR for 8 weeks. A pulmonary function test, 6-minute walking test (6MWT), shuttle walk test (SWT), and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were administered before and after PR. Blood was collected prior to and after PR for analysis of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), Cu-Zn-SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and total glutathione (TGSH).
Results: After PR, exercise capacity was improved (6MWT: 399.5±28.6 vs. 455.1±31.7 m, P<0.01, SWT: 335.6±45.9 vs. 373.3±47.1 m, P<0.01). There were reductions in the SGRQ total, symptoms and activity scores, indicating a clinical improvement, but no significant difference in TBARS pre- and post-PR. Erythrocyte CAT activity and TGSH were significantly increased after PR (CAT: 158.2±4.8 vs. 174.4±6.6 K/gHb, P<0.05, TGSH: 4.9±0.7 vs. 5.9±0.7 μM/gHb, P<0.05), but there were no differences in the erythrocyte SOD and GPX activities and the Cu-Zn-SOD concentration.
Conclusions: The current study suggested that PR improved exercise capacity and HRQL and upregulated antioxidant capacity, resulting in no further increase with exercise therapy.
- © 2012 ERS
