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Eyre J, Williams SA, Grabowski M, Winters S, Pontzer H. The effect of bi-iliac breadth on core body temperature. J Hum Evol 2024; 195:103580. [PMID: 39226621 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Thermoregulation is argued to be an important factor influencing body breadth in hominins based on the relationship of surface area to body mass first proposed by Bergmann. Selection for a narrow thorax, and thus a narrow pelvis, increases body surface area relative to body mass, which could be beneficial in hot climates if it leads to a decrease in core body temperature. However, the relationship between pelvic breadth and thermoregulation in humans has not been established. Although previous work has shown that bi-iliac breadth is significantly positively associated with latitude in humans, we lack an understanding of whether this association is due to climate-related selection, neutral evolutionary processes, or other selective pressures. A missing piece of the puzzle is whether body breadth at the iliac blades is an important factor in thermoregulation. Here, we examine this in a mixed-sex sample of 28 adult runners who ran for one hour at 3.14 m s-1 in a variety of climatic conditions while their core body temperatures were measured using internal temperature sensors. The association of maximum core temperature with anthropometric and demographic variables such as age, sex, mass, body fat percentage, and bi-iliac breadth was analyzed using a linear mixed-effect model. Due to the small sample size, the model was also bootstrapped. We found that an increase in absolute bi-iliac breadth was significantly associated with an increase in maximum core temperature. Overall, this preliminary analysis suggests a link between variation in bi-iliac breadth and maximum core body temperature during running, but further investigation is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Eyre
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA; Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, 10024, USA.
| | - Scott A Williams
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, 10024, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
| | - Mark Grabowski
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Sandra Winters
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, 10024, USA; Centre for Ecology and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Herman Pontzer
- Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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2
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Morin E, Winterhalder B. Ethnography and ethnohistory support the efficiency of hunting through endurance running in humans. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1065-1075. [PMID: 38740986 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01876-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Humans have two features rare in mammals: our locomotor muscles are dominated by fatigue-resistant fibres and we effectively dissipate through sweating the metabolic heat generated through prolonged, elevated activity. A promising evolutionary explanation of these features is the endurance pursuit (EP) hypothesis, which argues that both traits evolved to facilitate running down game by persistence. However, this hypothesis has faced two challenges: running is energetically costly and accounts of EPs among late twentieth century foragers are rare. While both observations appear to suggest that EPs would be ineffective, we use foraging theory to demonstrate that EPs can be quite efficient. We likewise analyse an ethnohistoric and ethnographic database of nearly 400 EP cases representing 272 globally distributed locations. We provide estimates for return rates of EPs and argue that these are comparable to other pre-modern hunting methods in specified contexts. EP hunting as a method of food procurement would have probably been available and attractive to Plio/Pleistocene hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugène Morin
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
- PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
| | - Bruce Winterhalder
- Anthropology and Graduate Group in Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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Areta JL. Physical performance during energy deficiency in humans: An evolutionary perspective. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2023; 284:111473. [PMID: 37406958 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Energy deficiency profoundly disrupts normal endocrinology, metabolism, and physiology, resulting in an orchestrated response for energy preservation. As such, despite energy deficit is typically thought as positive for weight-loss and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases during the current obesity pandemic, in the context of contemporary sports and exercise nutrition, chronic energy deficiency is associated to negative health and athletic performance consequences. However, the evidence of energy deficit negatively affecting physical capacity and sports performance is unclear. While severe energy deficiency can negatively affect physical capacity, humans can also improve aerobic fitness and strength while facing significant energy deficit. Many athletes, also, compete at an elite and world-class level despite showing clear signs of energy deficiency. Maintenance of high physical capacity despite the suppression of energetically demanding physiological traits seems paradoxical when an evolutionary viewpoint is not considered. Humans have evolved facing intermittent periods of food scarcity in their natural habitat and are able to thrive in it. In the current perspective it is argued that when facing limited energy availability, maintenance of locomotion and physical capacity are of high priority given that they are essential for food procurement for survival in the habitat where humans evolved. When energetic resources are limited, energy may be allocated to tasks essential for survival (e.g. locomotion) while minimising energy allocation to traits that are not (e.g. growth and reproduction). The current perspective provides a model of energy allocation during energy scarcity supported by observation of physiological and metabolic responses that are congruent with this paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- José L Areta
- Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
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Hora M, Pontzer H, Struška M, Entin P, Sládek V. Comparing walking and running in persistence hunting. J Hum Evol 2022; 172:103247. [PMID: 36152433 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
It has been proposed that humans' exceptional locomotor endurance evolved partly with foraging in hot open habitats and subsequently about 2 million years ago with persistence hunting, for which endurance running was instrumental. However, persistence hunting by walking, if successful, could select for locomotor endurance even before the emergence of any running-related traits in human evolution. Using a heat exchange model validated here in 73 humans and 55 ungulates, we simulated persistence hunts for prey of three sizes (100, 250, and 400 kg) and three sweating capacities (nonsweating, low, high) at 6237 combinations of hunter's velocity (1-5 m s-1, intermittent), air temperature (25-45 °C), relative humidity (30-90%), and start time (8:00-16:00). Our simulations predicted that walking would be successful in persistence hunting of low- and nonsweating prey, especially under hot and humid conditions. However, simulated persistence hunts by walking yielded a 30-74% lower success rate than hunts by running or intermittent running. In addition, despite requiring 10-30% less energy, successful simulated persistence hunts by walking were twice as long and resulted in greater exhaustion of the hunter than hunts by running and intermittent running. These shortcomings of pursuit by walking compared to running identified in our simulations could explain why there is only a single direct description of persistence hunting by walking among modern hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, walking down prey could be a viable option for hominins who did not possess the endurance-running phenotype of the proposed first persistence hunter, Homo erectus. Our simulation results suggest that persistence hunting could select for both long-distance walking and endurance running and contribute to the evolution of locomotor endurance seen in modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Hora
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague, 12800, Czech Republic; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
| | - Herman Pontzer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Global Health Institute, Duke University, 310 Trent Drive, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Michal Struška
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague, 12800, Czech Republic
| | - Pauline Entin
- College of Arts & Sciences, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA, 02747, USA
| | - Vladimír Sládek
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague, 12800, Czech Republic
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Murray AA. Variability and the form-function framework in evolutionary biomechanics and human locomotion. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e29. [PMID: 37588899 PMCID: PMC10426129 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The form-function conceptual framework, which assumes a strong relationship between the structure of a particular trait and its function, has been crucial for understanding morphological variation and locomotion among extant and fossil species across many disciplines. In biological anthropology, it is the lens through which many important questions and hypotheses have been tackled with respect to relationships between morphology and locomotor kinematics, energetics and performance. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that the morphologies of fossil hominins, apes and humans can confer considerable locomotor diversity and flexibility, and can do so with a range of kinematics depending on soft tissue plasticity and environmental and cultural factors. This complexity is not built into traditional biomechanical or mathematical models of relationships between structure and kinematics or energetics, limiting our interpretation of what bone structure is telling us about behaviour in the past. The nine papers presented in this Special Collection together address some of the challenges that variation in the relationship between form and function pose in evolutionary biomechanics, to better characterise the complexity linking structure and function and to provide tools through which we may begin to incorporate some of this complexity into our functional interpretations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison A. Murray
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Cornett Building Room B228, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, CanadaV8P 5C2
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Marino FE, Sibson BE, Lieberman DE. The evolution of human fatigue resistance. J Comp Physiol B 2022; 192:411-422. [PMID: 35552490 PMCID: PMC9197885 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-022-01439-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Humans differ from African great apes in numerous respects, but the chief initial difference setting hominins on their unique evolutionary trajectory was habitual bipedalism. The two most widely supported selective forces for this adaptation are increased efficiency of locomotion and improved ability to feed in upright contexts. By 4 million years ago, hominins had evolved the ability to walk long distances but extreme selection for endurance capabilities likely occurred later in the genus Homo to help them forage, power scavenge and persistence hunt in hot, arid conditions. In this review we explore the hypothesis that to be effective long-distance walkers and especially runners, there would also have been a strong selective benefit among Homo to resist fatigue. Our hypothesis is that since fatigue is an important factor that limits the ability to perform endurance-based activities, fatigue resistance was likely an important target for selection during human evolution for improved endurance capabilities. We review the trade-offs between strength, power, and stamina in apes and Homo and discuss three biological systems that we hypothesize humans evolved adaptations for fatigue resistance: neurological, metabolic and thermoregulatory. We conclude that the evolution of endurance at the cost of strength and power likely also involved the evolution of mechanisms to resist fatigue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank E Marino
- School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sport Science, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, 2795, Australia.
| | - Benjamin E Sibson
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Daniel E Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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7
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Wallace IJ, Kraft TS, Venkataraman VV, Davis HE, Holowka NB, Harris AR, Lieberman DE, Gurven M. Cultural variation in running techniques among non-industrial societies. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e14. [PMID: 36325185 PMCID: PMC9624512 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Research among non-industrial societies suggests that body kinematics adopted during running vary between groups according to the cultural importance of running. Among groups in which running is common and an important part of cultural identity, runners tend to adopt what exercise scientists and coaches consider to be good technique for avoiding injury and maximising performance. In contrast, among groups in which running is not particularly culturally important, people tend to adopt suboptimal technique. This paper begins by describing key elements of good running technique, including landing with a forefoot or midfoot strike pattern and leg oriented roughly vertically. Next, we review evidence from non-industrial societies that cultural attitudes about running associate with variation in running techniques. Then, we present new data from Tsimane forager-horticulturalists in Bolivia. Our findings suggest that running is neither a common activity among the Tsimane nor is it considered an important part of cultural identity. We also demonstrate that when Tsimane do run, they tend to use suboptimal technique, specifically landing with a rearfoot strike pattern and leg protracted ahead of the knee (called overstriding). Finally, we discuss processes by which culture might influence variation in running techniques among non-industrial societies, including self-optimisation and social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J. Wallace
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Thomas S. Kraft
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Vivek V. Venkataraman
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Helen E. Davis
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Alexandra R. Harris
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Daniel E. Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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8
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Christensen DL, Jørgensen SW, Koch LS, Nordsborg NB, Sironga J, Ramaiya KL, Larsen S, Brage S, Bygbjerg IC, Maro VP, Helge JW. Directly measured aerobic fitness in male Maasai of Tanzania. Am J Hum Biol 2022; 34:e23674. [PMID: 34487396 PMCID: PMC7613916 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The agro-pastoralist Maasai of East Africa are highly physically active, but their aerobic fitness has so far only been estimated using heart rate (HR) response to submaximal exercise and not directly measured. Thus, we aimed to measure aerobic fitness directly using respiratory gas analysis in a group of Maasai, and habitual physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) as explanatory variable. METHODS In total, 21 (10 rural, 11 semi-urban) of 30 volunteering Tanzanian Maasai men were eligible to participate. Respiratory gas exchange was measured during a graded exercise test until exhaustion on a stationary bicycle to determine aerobic fitness. Maximal effort criteria were at least two of the following (1) leveling off, (2) respiratory exchange ratio (RER) >1.10, and (3) maximum HR within 10 bpm of age-estimated maximum HR. Habitual PAEE was estimated using combined accelerometry and HR monitoring. Anthropometry, biochemistry, blood pressure, resting HR, and dietary intake information were collected for background information. RESULTS Mean age was 43.2 (range 26-60) years, and hemoglobin was higher in the rural versus semi-urban Maasai (16.9 vs. 15.4 g/dl, p = .02). Mean aerobic fitness (34.4 vs. 33.3 mlO2 /min/kg, p = .79), and mean PAEE (58.5 vs. 52.9 kJ/day/kg, p = .64) were similar in rural and semi-urban Maasai, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Aerobic fitness was low to moderate in male rural and semi-urban Maasai. This may be explained by relatively low PAEE in comparison to previous objectively measured activity levels in Maasai, which indicates recent lifestyle changes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sine W. Jørgensen
- Section of Endocrinology, Copenhagen University Hospital (Slagelse), Denmark
| | - Lars S. Koch
- Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
| | - Nikolai B. Nordsborg
- Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | - Steen Larsen
- Center of Healthy Aging, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Clinical Research Centre, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
| | - Søren Brage
- MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ib C. Bygbjerg
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Venance P. Maro
- Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Tanzania
- Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Moshi, Tanzania
| | - Jørn W. Helge
- Center of Healthy Aging, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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9
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Best AW. Why does strength training improve endurance performance? Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23526. [PMID: 33089638 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The specificity of training principle holds that adaptations to exercise training closely match capacity to the specific demands of the stimulus. Improvements in endurance sport performance gained through strength training are a notable exception to this principle. While the proximate mechanisms for how strength training produces muscular adaptations beneficial to endurance sports are increasingly well understood, the ultimate causes of this phenomenon remain unexplored. METHODS Using a holistic approach tying together exercise physiology and evolution, I argue that we can reconcile the apparent "endurance training specificity paradox." RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Competing selective pressures, inherited mammalian biology, and millennia of living in energy-scarce environments constrained our evolution as endurance athletes, but also imparted high muscular plasticity which can be exploited to improve endurance performance beyond what was useful in our evolutionary past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Best
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
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Skottrup PD, Kallemose T, Espino D, Infante-Ramirez R, Brage S, Terzic D, Goetze JP, Kjaergaard J, Christensen DL. Plasma marker for systemic inflammation is increased in Mexican Tarahumara following ultra-distance running. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23501. [PMID: 32902062 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Previous studies have suggested that acute exercise-induced cardiac and kidney damage following ultra-distance running is low in Mexican Tarahumara even though C-reactive protein (CRP) remained elevated 24 hours post-race. We aimed to study if the plasma biomarker, soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), could replace or complement CRP as a systemic inflammation biomarker in Tarahumara men and women following ultra-distance running. METHODS Plasma samples were collected pre-race and at three to six different time points post-race in Mexican Tarahumara competing in three independent ultramarathons; men running 78 km (GroupI, n = 9), women running 52 km (GroupII, n = 3), and men running 63 km (GroupIII, n = 10). Baseline anthropometry, blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, and hemoglobin were measured, aerobic fitness was estimated by submaximal step test, absolute and relative running intensity assessed using combined heart rate and accelerometry. Plasma was collected pre- and post-race to analyze concentrations of suPAR, and-for women only-a panel of inflammatory, cardiac and kidney plasma biomarkers. Mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the effect of ultramarathon running on plasma suPAR concentrations. RESULTS Compared to pre-race values, suPAR was significantly elevated in plasma <5 minutes after the three ultramarathon races (70%-109% increase of the mean for the three groups). Furthermore, plasma suPAR remained significantly elevated up to 6 hours post-race for all three groups of runners independent of running intensity. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that suPAR can complement, but not replace CRP following ultra-distance running in Tarahumara men and women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Durand Skottrup
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.,Novo Nordisk A/S, Global Research Technologies, Research Bioanalysis, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Thomas Kallemose
- Clinical Research Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Diana Espino
- Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
| | | | - Soren Brage
- MRC-Epidemiology Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dijana Terzic
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Centre of Diagnostics, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jens Peter Goetze
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Centre of Diagnostics, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jesper Kjaergaard
- Department of Cardiology, Heart Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Dirk Lund Christensen
- Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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