Effect of moderate-intensity aerobic training on alkaline phosphatase gene expression and serum markers of bone turnover in sedentary postmenopausal women

Studies show that aerobic exercise prevents osteoporosis in menopause
by stimulating osteoblastic cells. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate
the effect of 12 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on alkaline phosphatase
gene expression, serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, and
calcium in sedentary women.
Methods: This investigation is a semi-experimental study that was performed in
September 2015 at Urmia University, Iran. The statistical population was all healthy
and sedentary postmenopausal women 50 to 65 years old in Urmia city. Twenty
sedentary postmenopausal women with an average age 60.12±2.12 yr, weight
72.35±10.50 kg, and body mass index 29.46±3.24 kg/m2 voluntarily and bona fide
participated in this study, and then subjects were randomly divided to the Exercise/E
(10 women) and Control/C (10 women) groups by random sampling method. E group
performed of 12 weeks walking and jogging moderate-intensity aerobic exercise at 65-
70% maximal heart rate of training, three sessions per week and per session 50-60
(min), but the C group participated in no intervention. Twenty-four hours before and
after the 12-week training program were taken blood samples in order to measure of
alkaline phosphatase gene expression and serum markers of bone in the E and C
Groups. Evaluation of gene expression and serum markers of bone were measured by
real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Auto-analyzer (Biotechnica, Italy)/
ELISA reader (Awareness Inc., USA) machines, respectively. Data analysis included
descriptive and inferential (ANCOVA test) statistics using SPSS version 23 (Chicago,
IL, USA) and a significance level of P≥0.05 was considered.
Results: The results showed that alkaline phosphatase gene expression and parathyroid
hormone after 12 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in between-groups were
significantly increased (P=0.027 and P=0.006, respectively), while serum levels of
calcium and alkaline phosphatase were not significantly different (P=0.941 and
P=0.990, respectively).
Conclusion: The results suggest that 12 weeks of aerobic exercise of walking and
jogging at 65-70% maximal heart rate of training increases alkaline phosphatase gene
expression and parathyroid hormone in sedentary postmenopausal women.