Effects of exercise training on functional capacity, quality of life, cytokine and brain natriuretic peptide levels in hart failure patients.

Purpose: To establish whether exercise training (ExT) might modify functional capacity, quality of life (QOL), brain natriuretic peptides (BNP) and pro-inflammatory cytokines in heart failure (CHF) patients. Methods: 22 CHF patients, 20 men, 64.7±8.3 years, weight 83±13.5(kg), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 28.6±8(%) completed 16 weeks ExT. Cytokines, BNP, VO2 and QOL were measured before and after ExT. Results: After ExT peak VO2 increased 20 % from 11.6±4.7 (ml/kg/min) to 13.9±4.6 ml/kg/min (p=0.003), whil