Couppé Christian, Svensson René B, Grosset Jean-Francois, Kovanen Vuokko, Nielsen Rie H, Olsen Morten R, Larsen Jytte O, Praet Stephan F E, Skovgaard Dorthe, Hansen Mette, Aagaard Per, Kjaer Michael, Magnusson S Peter
Institute of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery M, Bispebjerg Hospital and Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Bldg. 8, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, DK-2400, Copenhagen, NV, Denmark,
Age (Dordr). 2014;36(4):9665. doi: 10.1007/s11357-014-9665-9. Epub 2014 Jul 5.
Life-long regular endurance exercise is known to counteract the deterioration of cardiovascular and metabolic function and overall mortality. Yet it remains unknown if life-long regular endurance exercise can influence the connective tissue accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) that is associated with aging and lifestyle-related diseases. We therefore examined two groups of healthy elderly men: 15 master athletes (64 ± 4 years) who had been engaged in life-long endurance running and 12 old untrained (66 ± 4 years) together with two groups of healthy young men; ten young athletes matched for running distance (26 ± 4 years), and 12 young untrained (24 ± 3 years). AGE cross-links (pentosidine) of the patellar tendon were measured biochemically, and in the skin, it was assessed by a fluorometric method. In addition, we determined mechanical properties and microstructure of the patellar tendon. Life-long regular endurance runners (master athletes) had a 21 % lower AGE cross-link density compared to old untrained. Furthermore, both master athletes and young athletes displayed a thicker patellar tendon. These cross-sectional data suggest that life-long regular endurance running can partly counteract the aging process in connective tissue by reducing age-related accumulation of AGEs. This may not only benefit skin and tendon but also other long-lived protein tissues in the body. Furthermore, it appears that endurance running yields tendon tissue hypertrophy that may serve to lower the stress on the tendon and thereby reduce the risk of injury.
众所周知，长期有规律的耐力运动可对抗心血管和代谢功能的衰退以及总体死亡率。然而，长期有规律的耐力运动是否会影响与衰老及生活方式相关疾病有关的晚期糖基化终产物（AGEs）在结缔组织中的积累，目前尚不清楚。因此，我们对两组健康老年男性进行了研究：15名长期从事耐力跑的资深运动员（64±4岁）和12名未受过训练的老年人（66±4岁），同时还研究了两组健康年轻男性；10名跑步距离相当的年轻运动员（26±4岁）和12名未受过训练的年轻人（24±3岁）。通过生化方法测量髌腱的AGE交联（戊糖苷），并采用荧光法评估皮肤中的AGE交联。此外，我们还测定了髌腱的力学性能和微观结构。与未受过训练的老年人相比，长期有规律的耐力跑者（资深运动员）的AGE交联密度低21%。此外，资深运动员和年轻运动员的髌腱都更厚。这些横断面数据表明，长期有规律的耐力跑可通过减少与年龄相关的AGE积累，部分抵消结缔组织的衰老过程。这不仅可能有益于皮肤和肌腱，还可能有益于身体其他长寿蛋白质组织。此外，耐力跑似乎会使肌腱组织肥大，这可能有助于降低肌腱所受压力，从而降低受伤风险。
