Total haemoglobin mass, blood volume and morphological indices among athletes from different sport disciplines

Abstract

IntroductionHaemoglobin is a key determinant of maximal oxygen uptake. This study's objective was to assess total haemoglobin mass (tHb-mass), as well as blood volume and morphological indices in athletes training different sports disciplines.Material and methodsThis study was conducted on 176 endurance and non-endurance athletes (males and females). tHb-mass, blood volume (BV), plasma volume (PV), and red cell volume (RCV) were determined by optimized carbon monoxide rebreathing method. Haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), red blood count (RBC) were also determined.ResultsIn endurance sports, gender regardless, no significant differences in relative mean values of tHb-mass (12.8–13.1 g/kg – males; 10.4–10.6 g/kg – females), BV (90.8–94.0 ml/kg – males; 82.7–86.9 ml/kg – females), RCV (36.6–38.0 ml/kg – males; 31.1–31.5 ml/kg – females) or of PV in males (54.2–56.4 ml/kg) were observed. The above indices’ relative values, gender regardless, were significantly lower in judo (11.2 ±0.7 g/kg, 81.8 ±5.9 ml/kg, 48.6 ±4.5 ml/kg and 33.1 ±2.0 ml/kg – males; 9.3 ±0.7 g/kg, 74.3 ±5.6 ml/kg, 46.4 ±4.0 ml/kg and 27.9 ±2.1 ml/kg – females) compared to endurance sports (p < 0.001). No substantial differences were observed in morphological blood indices in males, whereas this differentiation was found between certain sports in female athletes.ConclusionsThe lack of differences in tHb-mass, BV, PV and RCV in endurance sports and presence of this differentiation between various sports shows that the types of training might affect levels of mentioned indices. Measurements of tHb-mass and BV parameters prove Hb, Hct and RBC to have limited value for haematological status evaluations.

Trunk Muscle Aerobic Metabolism Responses in Endurance Athletes, Combat Athletes and Untrained Men

“…possible to determine whether the acceleration of the on-set V O 2 kinetics in cyclists is influenced mostly by the improvement in O 2 supply resulting in either cardiovascular enhancement or greater O 2 carrying capacity, which has not been documented here but which is known to be improved in endurance-trained individuals [23]. Also, this could be influenced by the earlier activation of the oxidative phosphorylation complexes.…”

The Association between Iron and Vitamin D Status in Female Elite Athletes

“…This is logical because in the group with vitamin D deficiency, a relatively high percentage (about 76%) of subjects with iron deficiency manifested a more advanced deficit in iron (i.e., stage II iron deficiency) with two athletes having iron deficiency anemia. The observed, simultaneously opposite relationship between vitamin D status and RBC may be due to post-exercise changes in plasma volume [ 49 ].…”

Normal Values of Hemoglobin Mass and Blood Volume in Young, Active Women and Men

“…Therefore, the standards were not uniformly recognized. Reference values for athletes have been increasingly examined during recent years [5,6,24,30,43,62,71,75]. Often, the hematological parameters are usually normalized to body weight (BW) or body surface area (BSA) [5,6,24,30,34,62,64,75].…”

“…In 1995, the International Council for Standardization in Haematology demanded that an individual anthropometric reference value be established that could reflect body composition [51]. Lean body mass (LBM; as a reflection of oxygen consumption) was suggested to be the ideal parameter [51] and was confirmed as such by different studies [4,43,57,58,61,65,71]. Nevertheless, LBM was not defined as the standard [51] because there was no simple method for determining the LBM [51].…”

“…Today, bio-impedance analysis might be a low-cost, noninvasive, commonly used and evaluated alternative method [35,38,39,41,70]. In several studies, LBM was used as a reference value for BV, and LBM was determined by skinfold thickness measurements or was calculated from anthropometric parameters [4,43,58,71]. In a representative study, equations used to calculate the percentage body fat showed a substantial bias [10].…”