Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death and moderate physical exercise is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular risk. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between the amount of exercise recorded daily by a wearable gravitometer for 3 months and selected biochemical and clinical parameters. Nineteen sedentary type 2 diabetics were recruited and distributed into three homogenous groups, low, medium, and high exercise, according to the level of physical exercise monitored and expressed as MOVEs. Data showed an inverse correlation between MOVEs and oxidative stress indexes and a significant improvement in paraoxonase-1 activities and endothelial functionality. Decrease of visceral/total adipose tissue ratio, systolic blood pressure and a down-regulation of the inflammatory microRNA-146a in high exercise group were observed. Finally, a decrease of glycosylated hemoglobin and an up-regulation of the angiogenic microRNA-130a in medium exercise one was obtained. In this study, precise daily monitoring permitted to underline the importance of the amount of physical activity to counteract some cardiovascular risk factors persisting in diabetes. Finally, it identifies new microRNA biomarkers for future investigation on the same topic.