Response of serum indicators of myocardial infarction following exercise-induced muscle injury

Myocardial mitochondrial oxidative stress and dysfunction in intense exercise: regulatory effects of quercetin

INTRODUCTION

Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the intense exercise-induced myocardium injury, and mitochondrial compartment is presumed as the main source and susceptible target of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS).

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of quercetin, a naturally occurring flavonoids possessing antioxidant effect on repeated intense exercise-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress and dysfunction.

METHODS

Adult male BALB/C mice were treated by quercetin (100 mg/kg bw) for 4 weeks and subjected to the exercise protocol on a treadmill (28 m/min at 5° slope for 90 min) for seven consecutive days concurrently at the fourth week.

RESULTS

Intense exercise in mice resulted in the leakage of creatine kinase-MB (increased from 221.5 ± 33.8 to 151.1 ± 19.1 U/l, P < 0.01) and ultrastructural malformation mainly evidenced by disrupted myofibrils and swollen mitochondria, which was overtly attenuated by quercetin prophylaxis. Quercetin pretreatment evidently alleviated mitochondrial oxidative stress by inhibiting glutathione depletion and aconitase inactivation, ROS over-generation, and lipid peroxidation in cardiac mitochondria of intense exercise mice. Furthermore, mitochondrial dysfunction manifested by decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (68.6 ± 7.6 versus 100.0 ± 7.7 %, P < 0.01) and respiratory control ratio (5.03 ± 0.55 versus 7.48 ± 0.71, P < 0.01) induced as a consequence of acute exercise was markedly mitigated by quercetin precondition.

CONCLUSION

Quercetin protects mouse myocardium against intense exercise injury, especially ultrastructural damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, probably through its beneficial antioxidative effect, highlighting a promising strategy for over-training injury by naturally occurring phytochemicals.

Influence of acute resistance exercise on cardiac biomarkers in untrained women

This study was conducted to determine if an initial bout of resistance (weight lifting) exercise by untrained women results in any alterations in indicators of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Untrained women performed 4 resistance exercises at 70% of their 1 repetition maximum. Blood samples were obtained during the 12 h post-exercise and analyzed for total creatine kinase (CK)-MB, CK-MB subforms 1 and 2, and the relative lymphocyte percentage. Exercise resulted in significant increases in total CK-MB, CK-MB(1), CK-MB(2), and the CK-MB(2)/CK-MB(1) ratio, total leukocyte count, and lymphocyte count. Using several criteria for the assessment of AMI, 22-25% of subjects completing the protocol demonstrated increases in CK-MB(2), CK-MB(2)/CK-MB(1) ratio, and relative lymphocyte percentages that were suggestive of AMI. Thus, our data suggest that moderate resistance exercise can significantly alter blood indicators of AMI, emphasizing the need to determine recent exercise history in patients with possible AMI.