Antioxidant enzyme activities and DNA damage in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus after 12 weeks of exercise

Objective: The objectives of this study are to assess the effects of a low‐intensity exercise training which is not risky for children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on the antioxidant enzyme activities and oxidative stresses compared with healthy controls. Patients and methods: We studied 10 boys with T1DM (11.21 ± 0.97 age) and 10 age‐matched healthy controls (11.90 ± 1.85 age) during the 12 weeks of moderate intensity aerobic exercise. Measurements included peak oxygen uptake, body composition, blood lipid profiles, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox‐LDL), 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities. Results: In T1DM patients, the baseline diastolic blood pressure and HbA1c were higher than that in controls (p < 0.05), while the GPx level was lower. The training‐induced DNA damage peak was higher in T1DM patients than in controls (p < 0.05), and exercise improved both SOD and GPx levels. Conclusion: Although our exercise programme increase antioxidant enzyme activities, the results of the study demonstrate that low‐intensity aerobic exercise training programme performed over 12 weeks may accelerate adverse effects of antioxidant defence capacity in children with T1DM. Therefore, the future studies should be performed to clarify much more the relationship to exercise and antioxidant capacity in children with T1DM.