Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Centre for Health, Activity and Wellbeing Research, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Aug 1;327(2):H331-H339. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00287.2024. Epub 2024 Jun 7.
Chronic exercise training is associated with an "athlete's artery" phenotype in young adults and an attenuated age-related decline in endothelium-dependent arterial function. Adolescence is associated with an influx of sex-specific hormones that may exert divergent effects on endothelial function, but whether training adaptations interact with biological maturation to produce a "youth athlete's artery" has not been explored. We investigated the influence of exercise-training status on endothelium-dependent arterial function during childhood and adolescence. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed in = 102 exercise-trained (males, = 25; females, = 29) and untrained (males, = 23; females, = 25) youths, characterized as pre (males, = 25; females, = 26)- or post (males, = 23; females, = 28)-predicted age at peak height velocity (PHV). Baseline brachial artery diameter was larger in post- compared with pre-PHV youths ( ≤ 0.001), males compared with females ( ≤ 0.001), and trained compared with untrained youths (3.26 ± 0.51 vs. 3.11 ± 0.42 mm; = 0.041). Brachial FMD was similar in pre- and post-PHV youths ( = 0.298), and males and females ( = 0.946). However, exercise-trained youths demonstrated higher FMD when compared with untrained counterparts (5.3 ± 3.3 vs. 3.0 ± 2.6%; ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, brachial artery diameter ( = 0.142; = 0.007 vs. = 0.004; = 0.652) and FMD ( = 0.138; = 0.008 vs. = 0.003; = 0.706) were positively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in post-, but not pre-PHV youths, respectively. Collectively, our data indicate that exercise training is associated with brachial artery remodeling and enhanced endothelial function during youth. However, arterial remodeling and endothelium-dependent function are only associated with elevated cardiorespiratory fitness during later stages of adolescence. We report preliminary evidence of the "youth athlete's artery," characterized by training-related arterial remodeling and elevated endothelium-dependent arterial function in children and adolescents. However, training-related adaptations in brachial artery diameter and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents, but not in children. Our findings indicate that endothelium-dependent arterial function is modifiable with chronic exercise training during childhood, but the association between FMD and elevated cardiorespiratory fitness is only apparent during later stages of adolescence.
慢性运动训练与年轻人的“运动员动脉”表型有关，并且与内皮依赖性动脉功能随年龄增长的衰减有关。青春期与特定性别激素的大量涌入有关，这些激素可能对内皮功能产生不同的影响，但训练适应是否与生物成熟相互作用以产生“年轻运动员的动脉”尚未得到探索。我们研究了运动训练状态对儿童和青少年时期内皮依赖性动脉功能的影响。评估了 = 102 名运动训练（男性， = 25；女性， = 29）和未训练（男性， = 23；女性， = 25）青少年的肱动脉血流介导的扩张（FMD），特征为高峰身高速度（PHV）之前（男性， = 25；女性， = 26）或之后（男性， = 23；女性， = 28）预测的年龄。与 PHV 之前的青少年相比，PHV 之后的青少年的肱动脉基线直径更大（ ≤ 0.001），男性比女性更大（ ≤ 0.001），并且受过训练的青少年比未受过训练的青少年更大（3.26 ± 0.51 与 3.11 ± 0.42 mm； = 0.041）。PHV 之前和之后的青少年的肱动脉 FMD 相似（ = 0.298），并且男性和女性之间也相似（ = 0.946）。然而，与未受过训练的青少年相比，受过训练的青少年的 FMD 更高（5.3 ± 3.3 与 3.0 ± 2.6%； ≤ 0.001）。此外，肱动脉直径（ = 0.142； = 0.007 与 = 0.004； = 0.652）和 FMD（ = 0.138； = 0.008 与 = 0.003； = 0.706）与 PHV 之后但不是 PHV 之前的青少年的心肺适应性呈正相关。总的来说，我们的数据表明，运动训练与青年时期的肱动脉重塑和内皮功能增强有关。然而，动脉重塑和内皮依赖性功能仅与青春期后期的心肺适应性升高有关。我们报告了“青年运动员动脉”的初步证据，其特征是儿童和青少年的与训练相关的动脉重塑和升高的内皮依赖性动脉功能。然而，与心肺适应性相关的肱动脉直径和血流介导的扩张（FMD）的训练相关适应性仅在青春期后期与青少年有关，而与儿童无关。我们的研究结果表明，内皮依赖性动脉功能在儿童时期可以通过慢性运动训练来改变，但是 FMD 与升高的心肺适应性之间的关联仅在青春期后期才显现出来。
