Decreased Serum Levels of C-Terminal Agrin in Postmenopausal Women Following Resistance Training
in Journal of Aging and Physical ActivityClick name to view affiliation
Search for other papers by Darryn S. Willoughby in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Kaitlan N. Beretich in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Marcus Chen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by LesLee K. Funderburk in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Elevated circulating C-terminal agrin fragment (CAF) is a marker of neuromuscular junction degradation and sarcopenia. This study sought to determine if resistance training (RT) impacted the serum levels of CAF in perimenopausal (PERI-M) and postmenopausal (POST-M) women. A total of 35 women, either PERI-M or POST-M, participated in 10 weeks of RT. Body composition, muscle strength, and serum estradiol and CAF were determined before and after the RT. The data were analyzed with two-way analysis of variance (p ≤ .05). Upper body and lower body strength was significantly increased, by 81% and 73% and 86% and 79% for the PERI-M and POST-M participants, respectively; however, there were no significant changes in body composition. Estradiol was significantly less for the POST-M participants at pretraining compared with the PERI-M participants. CAF moderately increased by 22% for the PERI-M participants in response to RT, whereas it significantly decreased by 49% for the POST-M participants. Ten weeks of RT reduced the circulating CAF in the POST-M women and might play a role in attenuating degenerative neuromuscular junction changes.
Willoughby is with Exercise and Biochemical Nutrition Lab, Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA. Beretich, Chen, and Funderburk are with the Division of Nutrition Sciences, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
© 2023 Human Kinetics