Abstract
This study investigated the effect of a traditional hypertrophy-oriented resistance training (RT) session at acute terrestrial hypoxia on inflammatory, hormonal, and the expression of miR-378 responses associated with muscular gains. In a counterbalanced fashion, 13 resistance trained males completed a hypertrophic RT session at both moderate-altitude (H; 2320 m asl) and under normoxic conditions (N; <700 m asl). Venous blood samples were taken before and throughout the 30 min post-exercise period for determination of cytokines (IL6, IL10, TNFα), hormones (growth hormone [GH], cortisol [C], testosterone), and miR-378. Both exercise conditions stimulated GH and C release, while miR-378, testosterone, and inflammatory responses remained near basal conditions. At H, the RT session produced a moderate to large but nonsignificant increase in the absolute peak values of the studied cytokines. miR-378 revealed a moderate association with GH (r = 0.65; p = 0.026 and r = −0.59; p = 0.051 in N and H, respectively) and C (r = 0.61; p = 0.035 and r = 0.75; p = 0.005 in N and H, respectively). The results suggest that a RT session at H does not differentially affect the hormonal, inflammatory, and miR-378 responses compared to N. However, the standardized mean difference detected values in the cytokines suggest an intensification of the inflammatory response in H that should be further investigated.
Highlights
Over the past decade, resistance training (RT ) under hypoxic conditions has become a topic of great interest due to its potential beneficial effect on mechanisms related to strength and muscle mass development [1,2,3]
The kit used for these analyses proved not to be sensitive enough to determine interleukin changes in healthy trained athletes
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the acute ascent to a moderate hypoxic environment on the response induced by a hypertrophy-oriented RT session on inflammatory, hormonal, and miR-378 markers
Summary
Resistance training (RT ) under hypoxic conditions has become a topic of great interest due to its potential beneficial effect on mechanisms related to strength and muscle mass development [1,2,3]. The combination of strength exercise and hypoxic conditions results in a greater desaturation of muscular oxygen [1], which in turn is linked to an increase in anaerobic metabolism and to an increase in the production of metabolites [2,5], enhancing the hypertrophic response [4]. The interaction between metabolic stress and ion flow during exercise under hypoxic conditions involves inflammatory and immune responses (Figure 1). In this context, circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (such as IL-6, IL10 or TNFα) can provide useful insights due to their putative regulation of T-cell differentiation, both controllers of muscle regeneration [9]. IL-6 is a signaling agent that activates the mTOR
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