Does exercise training alter myocardial creatine kinase MB isoenzyme content?

Skeletal muscle biopsies from highly trained endurance athletes have been shown to contain an increased percentage of the creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) isoenzyme, which has been attributed to continuous regeneration of the skeletal muscle fibers in response to exercise-induced injury. The purpose of this study was to determine whether myocardium undergoes a similar degenerative-regenerative process as a result of exercise training. Fifteen mongrel dogs underwent a 12-wk period of training (N = 8) or cage confinement (N = 7). The animals were then sacrificed, and samples of left and right ventricular myocardium were analyzed for total CK activity and CK-MB isoenzyme content. Percentages of CK-MB were slightly but insignificantly higher from both ventricles of exercise-trained as compared with cage-confined dogs: left ventricle, 4.6 +/- 0.6% vs 3.3 +/- 0.6%, respectively (P = 0.15); right ventricle, 4.0 +/- 0.4% vs 3.0 +/- 0.8%, respectively (P = 0.29). We conclude that chronic exercise training does not induce physiologically important degenerative changes in myocardium.