Does Exercise Increase HDL Cholesterol in Those Who Need It the Most?

he Health, Risk Factors, Exercise, Training, and Genetics (HERITAGE) Family Study is a landmark multicenter trial designed to examine the physiological changes produced by exercise training and how genetics contributes to the variation in the response to exercise. 1 Families underwent physiological and biochemical assessment before and after 5 months of supervised aerobic exercise training.This study is the largest intervention trial of the effects of exercise training on serum lipids, and the results for the entire cohort have been previously reported.2 In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Couillard and colleagues 3 present a detailed subgroup analysis of the lipid results for 200 white males that focuses on the effects of exercise on HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels.The results have important messages for both researchers and clinicians interested in the effects of exercise on lipid metabolism.