• Anne Hjelstuen, Sigmund A Anderssen, Ingar Holme, Ingebørg Seljeflot, and Tor Ole Klemsdal.
• Medical Division, Ullevål University Hospital, Kirkeveien, Oslo, Norway. anne@hjelstuen.no
• Am. J. Hypertens. 2006 Jul 1; 19 (7): 669-75; discussion 676-7.

BackgroundPhysical inactivity is an important risk factor for atherosclerotic disease. We studied the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness and soluble markers of atherosclerotic activity in men with drug-treated hypertension.MethodsThe participants (n = 177, 40 to 74 years of age), who were randomly recruited from the Hypertension High Risk Management Trial (HYRIM), were overweight and had sedentary lifestyles. The inflammatory markers high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (SICAM-1) and soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) and the hemostatic markers soluble thrombomodulin (sTM), von Willebrand factor (vWf), and tissue plasminogen activator antigen (tPAag) were measured. Physical activity was measured by use of a questionnaire. Time to exhaustion in a bicycle test was used as an expression of physical fitness.ResultsThe hs-CRP showed a significant inverse relationship with physical fitness independent of major cardiovascular risk factors (P = .017) but was not related to physical activity. The sE-selectin was significantly related to physical activity, although only when other factors were taken into account (P = .033), and it had no significant association with physical fitness. In addition there were strong associations between hs-CRP and sICAM-1 and the Framingham Coronary Heart Disease risk score (P < .001).ConclusionsThe observed inverse relations between physical fitness and hs-CRP and between level of physical activity and sE-selectin in drug-treated, hypertensive sedentary men indicates a beneficial effect of good fitness status as well as activity of low intensity on vessel wall inflammation.

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