Abstract
Several essential trace minerals play an important role in the endocrine system; however, toxic trace minerals have a disruptive effect. The aim of this research was to determine basal concentrations and the possible correlations between trace minerals in plasma and several plasma hormones in runners. Sixty high-level male endurance runners (21 ± 3 years; 1.77 ± 0.05 m; 64.97 ± 7.36 kg) participated in the present study. Plasma hormones were analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and plasma trace minerals were analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Correlations and simple linear regression were used to assess the association between trace minerals and hormones. Plasma testosterone concentrations were inversely correlated with manganese (r = −0.543; β = −0.410; p < 0.01), selenium (r = −0.292; β = −0.024; p < 0.05), vanadium (r = −0.406; β = −1.278; p < 0.01), arsenic (r = −0.336; β = −0.142; p < 0.05), and lead (r = −0.385; β = −0.418; p < 0.01). Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were positively correlated with arsenic (r = 0.298; β = 0.327; p < 0.05) and cesium (r = 0.305; β = 2.272; p < 0.05), and negatively correlated with vanadium (r = −0.303; β = −2.467; p < 0.05). Moreover, cortisol concentrations showed significant positive correlations with cadmium (r = 0.291; β = 209.01; p < 0.05). Finally, insulin concentrations were inversely related to vanadium (r = −0.359; β = −3.982; p < 0.05). In conclusion, endurance runners living in areas with high environmental levels of toxic minerals should check their concentrations of anabolic hormones.
Highlights
Endurance runners perform high amounts of training with long aerobic exercise sessions, where they run for a long time at intensities lower than the second ventilatory threshold (VT2 ); training that causes great physiological stress and induces changes and adaptations in their gonadal and cortical axis [1]
Plasma hormone concentrations and several trace mineral concentrations in high training endurance runners were in normal ranges
luteinizing hormone concentrations (LH) correlated with the plasma concentrations of vanadium, arsenic, and cesium
Summary
Endurance runners perform high amounts of training with long aerobic exercise sessions, where they run for a long time at intensities lower than the second ventilatory threshold (VT2 ); training that causes great physiological stress and induces changes and adaptations in their gonadal and cortical axis [1]. Hackney [2] reported a dysfunction in the hypothalamus-hypophyseal-testicular axis, defined as “exercise-hypogonadal male condition”, which leads to low levels of chronic basal testosterone (T) in endurance athletes [3], without changes in luteinizing hormone concentrations (LH), which may indicate a testicular dysfunction [4]. Trace minerals (TM) are present in body tissues as an essential part of many physiological functions, and their deficiency or excess can lead to metabolic disorders [7]. Public Health 2020, 17, 9473; doi:10.3390/ijerph17249473 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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