Chronic and acute effects of endurance training on telomere length

Abstract

Telomere shortening is considered a cellular marker of health status and biological ageing. Exercise may influence the health and lifespan of an individual by affecting telomere length (TL). However, it is unclear whether different endurance exercise levels may have beneficial or detrimental effects on biological aging. The aims of the study were to assess both chronic and acute effects of endurance training on TL after an exceptional and extreme trail race. TL was assessed in 20 endurance athletes (17 males; age = 45.4 ± 9.2 years) and 42 age- and gender-matched sedentary controls (32 males; age = 45.9 ± 9.5 years) with quantitative real-time PCR at baseline conditions. Of the 20 runners enrolled in the 'Tor des Géants ®' ultra-distance trail race, 15 athletes (12 males; age = 47.2 ± 8.5 years) were re-evaluated at the intermediate point and 14 athletes (11 males; age = 47.1 ± 8.8 years) completed the competition and were analysed at the final point. Comparison between the two groups (endurance athletes vs. sedentary controls) revealed a significant difference in TL (1.28 ± 0.4 vs. 1.02 ± 0.3, P = 0.005). TL was better preserved in elder endurance runners compared with the same age control group (1.3 ± 0.27 vs. 0.91 ± 0.21, P = 0.003). TL was significantly reduced at the intermediate (0.88 ± 0.36 vs. 1.11 ± 0.34, P = 0.002) and final point compared with baseline measurements (0.86 ± 0.4 vs. 1.11 ± 0.34, P = 0.0006) for athletes engaged in the ultra-marathon race. Our data suggest that chronic endurance training may provide protective effects on TL attenuating biological aging. Conversely, acute exposure to an ultra-distance endurance trail race implies telomere shortening probably caused by oxidative DNA damage.

Nuclear respiratory factor 1 and endurance exercise promote human telomere transcription

“…Although endurance training may provide protective effects on telomere length and attenuate biological aging ( 29 ), acute exposure to ultradistance endurance trail races was reported to shorten telomeres ( 30 ) as a possible consequence of excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production ( 31 ). Because we found that telomere transcription is activated by NRF1 antioxidant factor, it is tempting to speculate that TERRA up-regulation may be part of the antioxidant response that skeletal muscles set up to counteract exercise-induced ROS ( 32 ).…”

Physical activity and telomere length: Impact of aging and potential mechanisms of action

“…In addition, terminally differentiated CD8+ T-cells were released into the blood, which may indicate that more frequent exercise may allow naïve T cells to populate and improve immune function [ 70 ]. It has also been reported that an acute exposure of ultra-distance endurance trail race reduced salivary telomere length in athletes, yet chronic endurance training provided protections against such shortening [ 55 ].…”

Telomere length and redox balance in master endurance runners: The role of nitric oxide

“…Long-term endurance training (ER) has been shown to attenuate telomere shortening (Borghini et al 2015;Denham et al 2016b;LaRocca et al 2010;Osthus et al 2012), although this is not unequivocal (Rae et al 2010). Moreover, LTL is positively associated with maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) (Borghini et al 2015;Denham et al 2016a;Denham et al 2016b;LaRocca et al 2010;Osthus et al 2012;Rae et al 2010), but the possible mechanisms by which chronic exercise leads to longer LTL need to be more thoroughly studied. Denham et al (2016b) investigated LTL and telomere-regulating genes in ER adults and reported that besides longer LTL, they also demonstrated upregulated TERT and TPP1 in comparison to healthy controls.…”