Physical Exercise and DNA Injury: Good or Evil?

Regular, low-intensity physical activity is currently advocated for lowering the risk of developing many acute and especially chronic diseases. However, several lines of evidence attest that strenuous exercise may enhance inflammation and trigger the generation of free radical-mediated damage, thus overwhelming the undisputable benefits of regular, medium-intensity physical activity. Since reactive oxygen species are actively generated during high-intensity exercise, and these reactive compounds are known to impact DNA stability, we review here the current evidence about strenuous exercise and DNA injury. Despite the outcome of the various studies cannot be pooled due to considerable variation in design, sample population, outcome, and analytical techniques used to assess DNA damage, it seems reasonable to conclude that medium- to high-volume exercise triggers a certain amount of DNA injury, which appears to be transitory and directly proportional to exercise intensity. This damage, reasonably attributable to direct effect of free radicals on nucleic acids, is efficiently repaired in vivo within 24-72h. Therefore, physical exercise should not bear long-term consequences for athlete's health provided that an appropriate time of recovery between volumes of high-intensity exercise is set. Regular exertion, with a step-by-step increase of exercise load, also seems to be the most safe approach for eluding DNA instability.