Abstract
Marathons continue to grow in popularity among amateurs. However, the impact of intensive exercise on the amateur’s cardiovascular system has not yet been studied. Analysis of the influence of the marathon on kinetics of biomarkers reflecting cardiac injury and overload may bring new insights into this issue. We investigated the effect of running a marathon on the concentrations of high sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP), N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) and galectin 3 (Gal-3) in the population of male amateur runners. The study included 35 amateur marathoners and followed 3 stages: S1—two weeks prior to the marathon, S2—at the finish line and S3—two weeks after. Blood samples were collected at each stage and analyzed for biomarkers and laboratory parameters. Concentrations of all studied biomarkers were significantly higher at S2, whereas at S3 did not differ significantly compared to S1. Running a marathon by an amateur causes an acute rise in biomarkers of cardiac injury and stress. Whether repetitive bouts of intensive exercise elicit long-term adverse cardiovascular effects in amateur marathoners needs further research.
Highlights
Extreme sports are constantly growing in popularity
We found that completing a marathon by an amateur led to an acute, significant cardiac volume and pressure overload, as indicated by significant increases in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), NT-Pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (proANP) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) levels
The present study is the first to investigate the impact of the marathon run on the concentrations and kinetics of novel cardiac injury and stress biomarkers, including NT-proANP, GDF-15 and galectin 3 (Gal-3), in the male amateur marathon population
Summary
Extreme sports are constantly growing in popularity. Among them marathon running is the most popular, with the number of participants estimated at 2 million in 2015 [1] and over 3800 races organized worldwide in 2017. Most of the participants are amateur runners—they do not play sports for a living and present with a broad spectrum of lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors. Even if they change their lifestyle to a “healthy” one deciding to participate in the marathon, the preparations require daily regimen and regular training with the intensity that exceeds the routines of amateur sports. Examined a group of elderly veteran endurance athletes and compared their left ventricular function and myocardial perfusion with healthy moderately physically active subjects. The authors demonstrated better systolic and diastolic left ventricular function in the group of endurance athletes [2]. Randers et al compared the cardiovascular health and exercise performance among elderly soccer players, endurance athletes, strength-trained athletes and
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