Paraoxonase responses to exercise and niacin therapy in men with metabolic syndrome.

Our purpose was to characterize changes in paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity and concentration after single aerobic exercise sessions conducted before and after 6 weeks of niacin therapy in men with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Twelve men with MetS expended 500 kcal by walking at 65% of VO2max before and after a 6-week regimen of niacin. Niacin doses were titrated by 500 mg/week from 500 to 1500 mg/day and maintained at 1500 mg/day for the last 4 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected before and 24 hours after each exercise session and analyzed for PON1 activity, PON1 concentration, myeloperoxidase (MPO), apolipoprotein A1, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oLDL), lipoprotein particle sizes and concentrations. PON1 activity, PON1 concentration, MPO, and oLDL were unaltered following the independent effects of exercise and niacin (P > 0.05 for all). High-density lipoprotein particle size decreased by 3% (P = 0.040) and concentrations of small very low-density lipoprotein increased (P = 0.016) following exercise. PON1 activity increased 6.1% (P = 0.037) and PON1 concentrations increased 11.3% (P = 0.015) with the combination of exercise and niacin. Exercise and niacin works synergistically to increase PON1 activity and concentration with little or no changes in lipoproteins or markers of lipid oxidation.