Increasing physical education in high school students:: effects on concentration of circulating endothelial progenitor cells

Aims Levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), that can be increased by regular exercise, correlate with vascular function. In the context of primary prevention, the impact of regular physical activity on the amount and function of EPC has not yet been investigated in school children. Methods Four sixth grade classes of high school students (n=92) were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (IG) with daily physical exercise (45 min) at school or to the control group (CG) with conventional physical education (PE) (2h/week). In addition, one sixth grade class at a high school focused on competitive sports (PE) served as a reference group. After 1 school year, exercise capacity and the amount and function of EPCs were evaluated. Results After 1 year, a significantly higher VO2max was evident in the intervention group. Nevertheless, exercise capacity did not reach the level of children from PE. In addition, exercise intervention was successful in increasing the amount of EPCs but failed to increase the migratory capacity of the cells. Conclusion The result of this study shows, that intensified, supervised school sports leads to an increase in exercise capacity and EPCs in children. Nevertheless, its effect on primary prevention in cardiovascular disease has to be proven in further longitudinal studies. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 15:416-422 (c) 2008 The European Society of Cardiology