Abstract
Purine metabolism is crucial for efficient ATP resynthesis during exercise. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of lifelong exercise training on blood purine metabolites in ageing humans at rest and after exhausting exercise. Plasma concentrations of hypoxanthine (Hx), xanthine (X), uric acid (UA) and the activity of erythrocyte hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) were measured in 55 sprinters (SP, 20‒90 years), 91 endurance runners (ER, 20‒81 years) and 61 untrained participants (UT, 21‒69 years). SP had significantly lower levels of plasma purine metabolites and higher erythrocyte HGPRT activity than ER and UT. In all three groups, plasma purine levels (except UA in UT) significantly increased with age (1.8‒44.0% per decade). HGPRT activity increased in SP and ER (0.5‒1.0%), while it remained unchanged in UT. Hx and X concentrations increased faster with age than UA and HGPRT levels. In summary, plasma purine concentration increases with age, representing the depletion of skeletal muscle adenine nucleotide (AdN) pool. In highly-trained athletes, this disadvantageous effect is compensated by an increase in HGPRT activity, supporting the salvage pathway of the AdN pool restoration. Such a mechanism is absent in untrained individuals. Lifelong exercise, especially speed-power training, limits the age-related purine metabolism deterioration.
Highlights
A few studies assessed the changes in purine metabolite levels with increasing age
Lower plasma purine concentration and higher hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) activity in sprint-trained than in endurance-trained athletes indicated that high-intensity speed-power training brought about purine metabolism adaptations different from those resulting from low-intensity endurance training[14]
The endurance runners (ER) group had the lowest weight, height and body mass index (BMI), whereas sprint-trained athletes (SP) and untrained individuals (UT) groups were similar in this respect
Summary
A few studies assessed the changes in purine metabolite levels with increasing age. The only study including competitive athletes revealed that professional middle-aged runners aged 37‒55 years had lower Hx concentration and higher HGPRT activity than amateur runners and non-trained participants[13]. Research on one-year changes in purine metabolites in highly-trained long-distance runners[20], middle-distance runners[21], sprinters vs triathletes[22] and runners of different training status[13] revealed lowest Hx concentration in the competition phase (most intense training) and highest in the transition period (lack of training). We expect that plasma purine concentration increases and HGPRT activity decreases with age due to deterioration in the functioning of relevant metabolic pathways We presume that these age-related adverse changes are less pronounced in sprint-trained master athletes who are better adapted to high-intensity exercise
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