School of Physical Education, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang 421002, China.
School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2600. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032600.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term endurance exercise on cardiac morphology and function, as well as injury indicators, among amateur marathon runners. We recruited 33 amateur runners who participated in a marathon. Participants were divided into experimental and control groups according to their National Athletic Grade. The experimental group included participants with a National Athletic Grade of 2 or better, and the control group included participants who did not have a National Athletic Grade. Cardiac morphology, function, and injury indicators were assessed before and after the participants' involvement in the Changsha International Marathon. All cardiac morphology and function indicators returned to pre-race levels at 24 h post-race, and left ventricular end-diastolic volume and left ventricular end-systolic volume indicators showed similar trends. Both stroke volume (SV) and percent fractional shortening (%FS) indicators showed similar trends in changes in the measurements before and after the race. SV showed no change between the pre-race and post-race periods. On the other hand, %FS showed a significant increase in the immediate post-race period, followed by restoration of its level at 24 h post-race. Among myocardial injury indicators, serum levels of cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measured before the race, immediately after the race, and 24 h after the race displayed similar trends in changes among CK, CK-MB, LDH, and AST, while NT-proBNP levels did not change. We concluded that high-level amateur marathon runners had greater heart volumes, as well as wall and septal thicknesses, than low-level marathon runners, with differences in heart volume being the most pronounced. Long-term high-intensity endurance exercise caused some damage to the hearts of amateur runners. High-level runners showed better myocardial repair ability, and their levels of myocardial injury markers showed greater decreases at 24 h post-race, while low-level runners had poorer myocardial repair ability.
本研究旨在探讨长期耐力运动对业余马拉松运动员心脏形态和功能以及损伤指标的影响。我们招募了 33 名参加马拉松比赛的业余跑步者。参与者根据其国家运动等级分为实验组和对照组。实验组包括国家运动等级 2 级及以上的参与者，对照组包括没有国家运动等级的参与者。在参加长沙国际马拉松比赛前后，评估了参与者的心脏形态、功能和损伤指标。所有心脏形态和功能指标在比赛后 24 小时恢复到比赛前的水平，左心室舒张末期容积和左心室收缩末期容积指标呈现出相似的趋势。在比赛前后，每搏输出量（SV）和百分缩短率（%FS）指标的测量变化也呈现出相似的趋势。SV 在比赛前后没有变化。另一方面，%FS 在比赛后即刻明显增加，随后在 24 小时后恢复到比赛前的水平。在心肌损伤指标方面，比赛前、比赛后即刻和 24 小时后的血清心肌肌钙蛋白 I、肌酸激酶（CK）、肌酸激酶同工酶（CK-MB）、乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）、天门冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）和 N 末端 pro-B 型利钠肽（NT-proBNP）水平显示 CK、CK-MB、LDH 和 AST 的变化趋势相似，而 NT-proBNP 水平没有变化。我们得出结论，高水平业余马拉松运动员的心脏容量、心室壁和室间隔厚度比低水平马拉松运动员更大，其中心脏容量的差异最为明显。长期高强度耐力运动对业余跑步者的心脏造成了一定的损伤。高水平运动员表现出更好的心肌修复能力，其心肌损伤标志物水平在比赛后 24 小时下降更为明显，而低水平运动员的心肌修复能力较差。
