We did not find an effect of 3-mo aerobic exercise intervention
alone on serum AGE levels. This differs from three previous re-
ported studies looking at the effect of exercise on AGE levels in
general.The first studied the effect of taichi in a healthy Malaysian
population matched with sedentary volunteers >45 y [16]. The
participants were randomized either to practice tai chi twice per
week or to a control group. Plasma malondialdehyde and AGE
concentrations decreased significantly after 12 mo only in the tai
chi group. The second study recruited 17 healthy women (aged
30–60 y) who participated in a lifestyle modification protocol
aimed at increasing physical activity for3mo to measure changes
in AGEs [24]. Blood levels of CML decreased in the treatment
group compared with controls and changes in CML levels corre-
lated with the intensity of exercise.Finally,the third group studied
levels of MG in red blood cells during exercise in eight untrained
and five trained men [32]. Each man performed runs of short and
long duration. MG content of red blood cells decreased markedly
after running, especially in the untrained men. After short runs,
the MG concentration had dropped to 13% in the untrained men
and 30%in the trained men,and after long runs the concentration
fell to 41% in the untrained and 60% in the trained men. Our
different results likely reflect the different populations studied
and, more importantly, the type and intensity of exercise inter-
vention. We should note that our study followed the American
College of Sports Medicine Guidelines supporting aerobic exercise
performed 3 to 5 d/wk for 20 to 60 continuous minutes at an in-
tensity of 55% to 90% of HR max