Increased platelet oxidative metabolism, blood oxidative stress and neopterin levels after ultra-endurance exercise

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation was to identify muscle damage, inflammatory response and oxidative stress blood markers in athletes undertaking the ultra-endurance MultiSport Brazil race. Eleven well-trained male athletes (34.3 ± 3.1 years, 74.0 ± 7.6 kg; 172.2 ± 5.1 cm) participated in the study and performed the race, which consisted of about 90 km of alternating off-road running, mountain biking and kayaking. Twelve hours before and up to 15 minutes after the race a 10 mL blood sample was drawn in order to measure the following parameters: lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase activities, lipid peroxidation, catalase activity, protein carbonylation, respiratory chain complexes I, II and IV activities, oxygen consumption and neopterin concentrations. After the race, plasma lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase activities were significantly increased. Erythrocyte TBA-RS levels and plasma protein carbonylation were markedly augmented in post-race samples. Additionally, mitochondrial complex II activity and oxygen consumption in post-race platelet-rich plasma were also increased. These altered biochemical parameters were accompanied by increased plasma neopterin levels. The ultra-endurance event provoked systemic inflammation (increased neopterin) accompanied by marked oxidative stress, likely by increasing oxidative metabolism (increased oxidative mitochondrial function). This might be advantageous during prolonged exercise, mainly for efficient substrate oxidation at the mitochondrial level, even when tissue damage is induced.

Reductive stress after exercise: The issue of redox individuality

“…In Rodriquez et al [29] a small number of healthy (control) and unhealthy (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) individuals exhibited decreased levels of protein carbonylation after exercise both in blood and muscle. Finally in Dantas de Lucas et al [30] a number of individuals exhibited decreased plasma protein oxidation and erythrocyte lipid peroxidation levels after ultra-endurance exercise. Consequently, presenting individual differences along with group means is worthwhile for revealing “unanticipated” effects.…”

The effect of 1 week of repeated ischaemic leg preconditioning on simulated Keirin cycling performance: a randomised trial

“…Neopterin, 7,8-dihydroneopterin, biopterin, 7,8-dihydrobiopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin are heterocyclic pterin compounds metabolised by various cell types whose detection and elevation represent perturbations in oxidative stress, immune system activation and nitric oxide/ catecholamine synthesis. [16][17][18][19][20][21] Collectively, measurement of these biomarkers should provide some physiological insight into the stress response associated with repeated IPC.…”

Ultra-endurance exercise: unanswered questions in redox biology and immunology

“…Table 1 shows studies that have investigated non-stop ultra-marathons [12][13][14][15][16][17]. With the exception of one study [12] and the non-finishers included in another [15,16], the duration of ultra-marathons (27 to 48 hours) was considerably longer than the ultra-distance triathlons [18][19][20][21][22][23] and multi-sport events [24,25] shown in Table 2 (7.5 to 12.5 hours). It can also be seen that generally, the alterations in redox homeostasis, indicated by measuring biomarkers of oxidative stress, are more consistent between ultra-marathon athletes (and between different biomarkers in these studies), compared to investigations of ultra-distance triathletes (see Table 2).…”

“…As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the effects of ultra-endurance exercise on antioxidant levels appear at first glance to be varied. Measures of antioxidant capacity have been shown to be increased [13,14], decreased [17,18] or exhibit no change [19,25] in the hours and days after ultra-endurance exercise. The apparent inconsistency is likely due to one or both of the following factors.…”