Abstract
It has been shown that one recreational SCUBA (rSCUBA) diving session is sufficient to cause changes in plasma level of cardiovascular (CV) and muscular biomarkers. To explore whether repetitive rSCUBA diving triggers an adaptive response of the CV, muscular, and immune system, we measured the cardiac damage (NT‐proBNP, hs‐TnI, and CK‐MB), muscle damage (myoglobin (Mb), galectin‐3, CK, and LDH), vascular endothelial activation (ET‐1 and VEGF), and inflammatory (leukocyte count (Lkc), CRP, and IL‐6) biomarkers. A longitudinal intervention study included divers (N = 14) who conducted one dive per week over 5 weeks at the depth of 20–30 m for 30 min after a non‐dive period of 5 months. The blood samples were collected before and after the first, third, and fifth dives and specific biomarkers were measured in plasma or serum by the standard laboratory methods. The concentrations of the majority of measured biomarkers increased after every single dive; the exception was ET‐1 concentration that decreased. The cumulative effect of five dives has been reflected in diminishing changes in hs‐TnI, Mb, galectin‐3, ET‐1, VEGF, and IL‐6 levels, and more pronounced increases in NT‐proBNP and hs‐CRP levels. The median values of all measured biomarkers in all time points, except Mb, remained within the corresponding reference range. Repeatedly performed rSCUBA diving activates an adaptive response of the CV, muscular, and immune system that is reflected in changes in the specific biomarker concentration.
Highlights
Positive effects of regular, moderate-intensity exercise on physical fitness and overall health of humans are well known
There are only few studies on the effects of the repeated SCUBA diving; in two of them, NT-proBNP concentration was measured after repeated technical SCUBA diving (Ljubkovic et al, 2010; Marinovic et al, 2010), whereas in the third study, ET-1 concentration was monitored after repeated recreational SCUBA (rSCUBA) diving (Bilopavlovic et al, 2013), but no cumulative effect has been observed
To contribute to the elucidation of the cumulative effect of the repetitive rSCUBA diving on the CV, muscular, and immune systems, we examined the effects of five consecutive rSCUBA dives after 5 months non-dive period by measuring plasma or serum concentration of cardiac (hs-TnI, NT-proBNP, creatine kinase myocardial band (CK-MB), Gal-3, and high-sensitivity CRP) and muscle damage (Mb, Gal-3, creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)), vascular endothelial activation (ET-1 and VEGF), and inflammatory (leukocyte count (Lkc), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6)) biomarkers
Summary
Moderate-intensity exercise on physical fitness and overall health of humans are well known. Our previous study on the effect of a single session of recreational SCUBA (rSCUBA) diving on the CV system (Žarak et al, 2020) showed moderate but reversible changes in biomarkers of cardiac (N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI)) and muscle damage (myoglobin (Mb) and galectin-3 (Gal-3)), and vascular endothelial activation (vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endothelin-1 (ET-1)). Other studies found similar results for NT-proBNP after both single rSCUBA diving sessions (Gempp et al, 2005; Grassi et al, 2009; Passino et al, 2011) and technical (dives deeper than 40 m with an obligatory decompression stop (CMAS, 2012)) diving sessions (Ljubkovic et al, 2010; Marinovic et al, 2010). Information on the cumulative effect of the repeated SCUBA diving, either recreational or technical, is scarce
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