Abstract
Professional lifestyle and championship period often put a great deal of pressure on athletes, who usually experience highly stressful periods during training for competitions. Recently, biomarkers of cellular aging, telomere length (TL) and telomerase activity (TA), have been considered to investigate the effects of stress and lifestyle factors. Studies in non-athletic populations have shown that stress and poor lifestyle decrease TL and TA. On the other hand, it has been shown that in general, exercise increases TL and its activity, although the underlying mechanisms remained largely unexplored. TL and TA outcomes in elite athletes remain inconclusive and mainly affected by confounding factors, such as age. Elite athletes, therefore, might offer a unique target group for studying exercise-telomere hypothesis for further investigation of the roles of stressors on telomere-related biomarkers. In this perspective, we highlight the potentials for studying these psychophysiological markers in elite athletes in order to understand stress-aging relationship and potential underlying mechanisms. Moreover, we present important methodological aspects that could help in the development of future experimental designs.
Highlights
High demand training plans, following precise dietary programs, and attending a large number of competitions, often pressurize athletes, both physically and mentally
In addition to the classic function of telomere lengthening, the telomerase enzyme has several other duties that are independent of the TL, such as increasing stress-resistance, cell survival, protection of mitochondrial functions, mediating DNA damage response, inhibition of apoptosis, and promoting neuroprotective signaling (Cong and Shay, 2008)
The regulation of telomeres seems to be involved in this condition, as a lower telomerase activity (TA) and shorter TL have been linked to the decreased vagal tone, increased basal levels of cortisol, oxidative stress, and inflammation (Conklin et al, 2019)
Summary
High demand training plans, following precise dietary programs, and attending a large number of competitions, often pressurize athletes, both physically and mentally. For instance, might not be able to apply adaptive coping strategies, which may mitigate the impacts of an innately stressful environment, and those are at higher risks for developing tissue injury and mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety (Purcell et al, 2019). These reactions are often due to activation of other cascades following the chronic activation of systems contributed in the stress response. We emphasize on the potentials for studying these biomarkers in elite athletes in order to understand stress-aging relationship and underlying mechanisms In this perspective, we first briefly explain the telomere biology and its relation to stress.
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