Grzędzicka Jowita, Dąbrowska Izabela, Malin Katarzyna, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz Olga
Department of Large Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Apr 17;10:1148990. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1148990. eCollection 2023.
Increased training loads in both human and equine athletes are generally implemented to improve their physical performance. These loads are tolerated only within appropriate training periodization with regard to recovery time. Otherwise, training overload causes failure in the systemic adaptation, which at first leads to overreaching, and progressively to overtraining syndrome (OTS). Exercise endocrinology, and anabolic/catabolic balance as an indicator of athlete performance status and OTS has continued to attract attention. In human medicine, changes in testosterone and cortisol levels, as well as the testosterone to cortisol ratio (T/C; anabolic index), are suggested to be sensitive stress markers. However, there is a lack of research investigating these parameters for use in equine sports medicine. The aim of the study was to investigate the differences in testosterone, cortisol, and T/C in response to a single training session in two types of equine sports: endurance and race, together with serum amyloid A (SAA), the main acute phase response indicator of physical effort, and the overall health status in horses. Two groups of horses were enrolled in the study: endurance ( = 12) and racehorses ( = 32) of different fitness level. Blood samples were obtained before and after the exercise. On average, T increased 2.5 times after the race training in experienced racehorses and dropped in endurance horses regardless the fitness level ( < 0.05). In endurance horses, a decrease in T/C occurred after training in inexperienced horses ( < 0.05). In racehorses, a T/C decrease occurred in the inexperienced group ( < 0.05) and an increase in the experienced ( < 0.01). In conclusion, T/C ratio was found to be a potentially reliable indicator of fitness status especially in racing horses. These findings provide insight into the physiological response of the horses to different types of exercise and the potential use of hormone levels as markers of performance and adaptation.
在人类和马匹运动员中增加训练负荷通常是为了提高他们的身体表现。只有在考虑恢复时间的适当训练周期内，这些负荷才能够被承受。否则，训练过载会导致系统适应失败，首先会导致过度训练，进而逐渐发展为过度训练综合征（OTS）。运动内分泌学以及合成代谢/分解代谢平衡作为运动员表现状态和OTS的指标，一直备受关注。在人类医学中，睾酮和皮质醇水平的变化以及睾酮与皮质醇的比值（T/C；合成代谢指数）被认为是敏感的应激标志物。然而，在马运动医学中，缺乏对这些参数的研究。本研究的目的是调查在耐力赛和赛马这两种马类运动中，单次训练后睾酮、皮质醇和T/C的差异，以及血清淀粉样蛋白A（SAA），体力消耗的主要急性期反应指标，和马匹的整体健康状况。两组马匹被纳入研究：不同健康水平的耐力马（n = 12）和赛马（n = 32）。在运动前后采集血样。平均而言，在经验丰富的赛马进行比赛训练后，T增加了2.5倍，而耐力马无论健康水平如何，T均下降（P < 0.05）。在耐力马中，未经训练的马匹训练后T/C下降（P < 0.05）。在赛马中，未经训练的组T/C下降（P < 0.05），而经验丰富的组T/C增加（P < 0.01）。总之，发现T/C比值是健康状况的一个潜在可靠指标，尤其是在赛马中。这些发现为马匹对不同类型运动的生理反应以及激素水平作为表现和适应标志物的潜在用途提供了见解。
