Regular exercise, overweight/obesity and sedentary lifestyle cause adaptive changes in thiol–disulfide homeostasis

Abstract: Dynamic thiol–disulfide homeostasis is considered to have critical roles in maintenance of physiological functioning. We aimed to reveal whether there is any specific aberration in thiol–disulfide homeostasis in three distinct categories of individuals, including those who 1) exercise regularly (fitness group), 2) have a sedentary lifestyle (sedentary group) and 3) are overweight or obese (overweight/obese group). 72 male individuals were included in the study, 21 of whom were in fitness group, 28 of whom were overweight or obese and 23 of whom had a sedentary lifestyle. Plasma native thiol (-SH) and total thiol [(-SH) + (-S-S-)] levels were quantitatively determined. Total thiol levels in sedentary group were significantly lower than those in overweight/obese (p