A Retrospective Analysis of Collegiate Athlete Blood Biomarkers at Moderate Altitude

Abstract

Morris, KL, Widstrom, L, Goodrich, J, Poddar, S, Rueda, M, Holliday, M, San Millian, I, and Byrnes, WC. A retrospective analysis of collegiate athlete blood biomarkers at moderate altitude. J Strength Cond Res 33(11): 2913–2919, 2019—Blood biomarkers are used to assess overall health and determine positive/negative adaptations to training/environmental stimuli. This study aimed to describe the changes in blood biomarkers in collegiate football (FB) (n = 31) and cross-country (XC) (n = 29; 16 women [FXC], 13 men [MXC]) athletes across a competitive season while training and living at a moderate altitude (1,655 m). This study used a database of previously collected hematological (complete blood count and serum ferritin) and muscle damage (lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase) blood biomarkers. Data were analyzed both within and between groups using linear mixed-model and variance component analyses, alpha = 0.05. All 3 groups had significant but different patterns of change in the measured biomarkers. Hematological blood biomarkers increased at different time points but remained within the normal reference ranges with greater between-subject vs. within-subject variability, suggesting no significant decrements to oxygen-carrying capacity across the season for FB, MXC, or FXC. Muscle damage biomarkers increased over time and exceeded the normal reference ranges, indicating cell damage pathology. However, it is also possible that the demands of training and competition might alter baseline values in these athletes, although this cannot be confirmed with the current experimental design. The patterns of change in the hematological and muscle damage biomarkers varied by sport discipline, suggesting that the training/competitive environments of these athletes influence these changes. Further studies should assess how much training, altitude, and nutrition influence these changes by using a more comprehensive set of biomarkers and related performance parameters.

Prevalence of iron deficiency among university kendo practitioners in Japan: an observational cohort study

“…Although we found no anemia in the Kendo practitioners studied, a previous report on elite young athletes found a low incidence (~7%) of anemia in both males and females [21]. The iron status, however, exhibited a significant difference between genders -i.e., a significant higher proportion of iron deficiency was observed in female athletes in our study, which is consistent with previous reports [21,22]. The causes of gender differences in iron deficiency include menstrual blood loss and, consequently, inadequate iron intake in females [23,24].…”

“…We performed a sub-analysis to figure out the characteristics of female practitioners with hypoferritinemia [20,22] 20 [20,22] 20 [19,21] Years of sports/athletics 15 [13,17] 15 [13,17] 15 [13,17] Body mass index (kg/m 2 ) 24. (serum ferritin levels ≤30 ng/mL) when compared to those with > 30 ng/mL of serum ferritin (Table 2).…”

Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure with High Dose of Arginine Impact on Circulating Mediators of Tissue Regeneration

“…Total CK activity is a widely used measurement in monitoring of the training load, physical efficacy and overtraining [ 17 , 33 ]. Morris et al [ 34 ] demonstrated that muscle damage biomarkers increased over time and exceeded the normal reference ranges at moderate altitude (hyperbaric hypoxia), indicating cell damage pathology. Hypoxia impairs injured muscles rebuilding in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and peripheral arterial disease, but it has a positive effect on the muscle regenerative capacity in athletes [ 7 , 35 ].…”

Serum ferritin and vitamin D evaluation in response to high altitude comparing Italians trekkers vs Nepalese porters

“…Nevertheless, these parameters are often complex to analyze as they are strongly dependent on factors such as age, gender, health and nutritional status and diseases (Morris et al, 2019). The first erythropoietic response to altitude is dependent on both hypoxic dose and iron stores (Serpell et al, 2020).…”

“…Broadly speaking, the greatest effects of hypoxia on the haematological parameters occur at 2200–2500 m, with a minimum exposure of 12 h/day for a minimum period of 3 weeks (Millet, Roels, Schmitt, Woorons, & Richalet, 2010). Research studies have specifically highlighted the role of sFER in maintaining blood cell homeostasis and turnover during living or training at altitude (Latunde‐Dada, Vulpe, Anderson, Simpson, & McKie, 2004; Mairbäurl, Ruppe, & Bärtsch, 2013; Morris et al, 2019). Ferritin is a globular protein which serves to store iron in a non‐toxic form in the cells and to transport it where is required, particularly it can store up to 4500 atoms of iron.…”