The influence of prolonged aerobic exercise on cardiac, muscular, and renal biomarkers in trained individuals with obesity

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of prolonged aerobic exercise on cardiac, muscular and renal inflammatory markers in a group of trained obese men.

Methods: Seventeen men (aged 40 ± 6 years; body mass index [BMI] 31.3 ± 2.8 kg m^-2, maximal oxygen uptake [V'O₂max] 41.5 ± 5.6 ml kg^-1 min^-1) ran a half, 30 km, or full marathon. Troponin I (cTnI), the n-terminal creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), myoglobin, creatinine (CREA) and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were measured before (T0), immediately after (T1) and 3 days after the race (T2).

Results: The concentrations of cTnI, myoglobin, LDH, CK-MB and CREA significantly increased (P < 0.05), whereas eGRF decreased at T1 (P < 0.05). All the above parameters returned to baseline at T2, except for eGFR, which remained lower than that at T0 (P < 0.05). A positive association was observed between ΔCK-MB (%) and the time spent in Zone 3 during the race (R = 0.686, P = 0.014). The Δmyoglobin (%) was positively correlated with race time, race mean speed and time in Zone 3 (R = 0.574-0.862, P < 0.05). The ∆CREA values were moderately correlated with the race mean HR_MAX (%) and time spent in Zone 3 (%) (R = 0.514-0.610; P = 0.05). The ∆eGRF values were moderately inversely correlated with the time spent in Zone 3 (%) (R = - 0.627; P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Changes in cardiac, muscular and renal inflammatory markers in trained men with obesity are consistent with those described in the literature in normal-weight individuals. Finally, running parameters, such as running time, average running intensity and time in Zone 3 appear to be responsible for the changes in cardiac, muscular and renal function markers after long-distance running.