Hemoglobin, hematocrit and plasma volume variations following combined sprint and strength: Effect of advanced age

The Effects of Exercise Training on Plasma Volume Variations: A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence on the acute and long-term effects of exercise training on PV, in both trained and untrained individuals and to examine associations between changes in %PVV and change in physical/physiological performance. Despite the status of participants and the exercise duration or intensity, all the acute studies reported a significant decrease of PV (effect size: 0.85<d<3.45, very large), and ranged between 7 and 19.9%. In untrained individuals, most of studies reported a significant increase of PV in response to different kind of training including endurance training and high intensity interval training (effect size: 0.19<d<3.52, small to very large), and ranged from 6.6 to 16%. However, in trained individuals the results are equivocal. We showed that acute exercise appears to induce a significant decrease of PV in both healthy untrained and trained individuals in response to several exercise modalities. Moreover, there is evidence that long-term exercise training induced a significant increase of PV in healthy untrained individuals. However, it seems that there is no consensus concerning the effect of long-term exercise training on PV in trained individuals.

Sprint interval training (SIT) reduces serum epidermal growth factor (EGF), but not other inflammatory cytokines in trained older men

Purpose

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of age on circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors. A secondary aim was to investigate whether a novel sprint interval training (SIT) intervention (3 × 20 s ‘all out’ static sprints, twice a week for 8 weeks) would affect inflammatory markers in older men.

Methods

Nine older men [68 (1) years] and eleven younger men [28 (2) years] comprised the younger group. Aerobic fitness and inflammatory markers were taken at baseline for both groups and following the SIT intervention for the older group.

Results

Interleukin (IL)-8, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were unchanged for the older and younger groups at baseline (IL-8, p = 0.819; MCP-1, p = 0.248; VEGF, p = 0.264). Epidermal growth factor (EGF) was greater in the older group compared to the younger group at baseline [142 (20) pg mL⁻¹ and 60 (12) pg mL⁻¹, respectively, p = 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.64]. Following SIT, older men decreased EGF to 100 (12) pg mL⁻¹ which was similar to that of young men who did not undergo training (p = 0.113, Cohen's d = 1.07).

Conclusion

Older aerobically trained men have greater serum EGF than younger aerobically trained men. A novel SIT intervention in older men can shift circulating EGF towards trained younger concentrations. As lower EGF has previously been associated with longevity in C. elegans, the manipulative effect of SIT on EGF in healthy ageing in the human may be of further interest.