Cardiovascular health benefits of aerobic exercise training in methamphetamine-dependent male individuals: A randomized controlled trial

Methamphetamine abuse and addiction have become a critical public health issue and ranked the third in global drug abuse after cannabis and opioids. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise intervention on cardiovascular health status of methamphetamine-dependent male individuals.

82 adult male methamphetamine-dependent participants were randomly assigned to either control group (CTR) or exercise group (EX), who underwent an 8-week moderate-intensity aerobic training program (1 h/day, 5 days/week), while the CTR group maintained their routine activities. Several indicators of cardiovascular health were monitored before and after the exercise intervention, including electrocardiogram (ECG), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, blood levels of cardiac biomarkers (cTn-Ⅰ, CK-MB, BNP), and functional capacity indicated by 6-min walk test (6MWT).

After the 8-week intervention, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and cTn-Ⅰ and BNP levels decreased significantly in EX group as compared with CTR group following the 8-week aerobic exercise training program. ECG findings revealed shortened QTc intervals and a marked reduction in SV1+RV5. The 6MWT distance also substantially increased in EX group.

The 8-week aerobic exercise intervention effectively mitigated the biomarkers of methamphetamineinduced myocardial damage and cardiovascular stress, and improved exercise fitness capacity in the methamphetamine-dependent individuals.