Comparative Effects of Aerobic Training and Erythropoietin on Oxygen Uptake in Untrained Humans

Abstract

Sieljacks, P, Thams, L, Nellemann, B, Larsen, MS, Vissing, K, and Christensen, B. Comparative effects of aerobic training and erythropoietin on oxygen uptake in untrained humans. J Strength Cond Res 30(8): 2307-2317, 2016-The present study examines responses to 10 weeks of aerobic training and/or erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) treatment on maximal oxygen uptake (V[Combining Dot Above]O2max). Thirty-six healthy, untrained men were randomly assigned to sedentary-placebo (n = 9), sedentary-ESA (SE) (n = 9), training-placebo (TP) (n = 10), or training-ESA (TE) (n = 8). The participants were treated subcutaneously once weekly with ESA (darbepoietin-α, week 1-3; 40 μg and week 4-10; 20 μg) or a placebo for 10 weeks. The training consisted of supervised cycling 3 times per week for 1 hour at an average of 65% of maximal watt, with a progressive overload during the intervention period. V[Combining Dot Above]O2max, wattmax, and hematological values were measured throughout the study. In addition, the total training workload and estimated energy consumption were recorded after each training session. ESA treatment increased hemoglobin (∼11 and ∼14%, p < 0.001) and hematocrit (∼12 and ∼13%, p < 0.001) in the SE and TE groups, respectively. The relative (but not absolute) increases in V[Combining Dot Above]O2max were more pronounced (p < 0.01) in TE (27 ± 6%), compared with SE (15 ± 4%) but not TP (19 ± 4%), indicating that training is superior to ESA in stimulating V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in untrained men. The increased oxygen uptake in the TE group did not result in higher absolute training workloads than in the TP group. In untrained men, training exhibits a greater stimulus for improvements in V[Combining Dot Above]O2max than ESA treatment, without pronounced additive effects, which is supported by similar average training workloads and energy consumption in TP and TE. Thus, in untrained men, training alone seems sufficient to induce improvement in V[Combining Dot Above]O2max.

Effect of erythropoietin on athletic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Notably, full-text screening found three studies (Sieljacks et al ,15 Larsen et al 16 and Christensen et al 17) that used the same cohort. Only the study by Sieljacks et al 15 was included in our analyses as it was the latest study of this cohort and contained all the relevant outcomes from the previous studies 15. Meanwhile, two other studies did not explicitly report numerical data, so their data were extracted through graph estimations 18 19…”

“…From the 10 included studies, the following were determined to be relevant outcomes: Borg Scale Rating of Perceived Exhaustion (RPE), TTE, training load, total work, POmax and submaximal PO, Mont Ventoux race times, haematological parameters (ie, haematocrit percentage (hct%), haemoglobin concentration (Hb)), and pulmonary measures (ie, pulmonary ventilation, VO 2 max, submaximal VO 2 ) 6 13 15 18–24. Outcomes were further stratified by treatment periods and dosages.…”

“…Three studies reported that hct% was significantly higher in the rHuEPO group compared with the placebo group (p<0.001, p<0.00001, p<0.001) 6 13 15…”

“…There are eight studies in this category (VO 2 max) 6 13 15 18–21 24. Outcomes were attained through maximal testing for all studies 6 13 15 18–21 24…”

“…There are three studies in this category 6 13 15. One study reported no significant difference in VO 2 max between the placebo group and the rHuEPO group 13.…”