Contribution of nitric oxide to exercise‐induced changes in healthy volunteers: effects of acute exercise and long‐term physical training

Abstract

Endothelium plays a central role in the regulation of regional blood flow through the release of certain vasoactive substances. We conducted this study to test whether an increase in the production of nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and plasma and intraplatelet cyclic guanosine 3':5' monophosphate (cGMP) is involved in the adaptation to chronic exercise in physically trained people and in the vasodilatation induced by acute physical exercise. We studied one group of 10 trained athletes and another group of 10 untrained people. We measured plasma levels of nitrites, nitrates and cGMP and intraplatelet levels of cGMP, as an indicator of intracellular guanylate cyclase activity, and ANP before and after a maximal treadmill test. Resting cardiac rate (CR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were lower in the athlete group than in the control group (73.8 +/- 3.6 vs. 92 +/- 5.9; P < 0.02 and 110 +/- 2.58 vs. 118 +/- 3.27; P < 0.02 respectively). SBP did not show differences between groups after the exercise test. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at rest was lower in the athlete group (71 +/- 1.79 vs. 80.5 +/- 3.53; P < 0.03) and the decrease after maximal exercise was more pronounced in this group (64 +/- 2.67 vs. 74.5 +/- 3.2; P < 0.02). Basal plasma nitrites were 4.9 +/- 0.8 in the athlete group and 1.9 +/- 0.3 in the control group (P < 0.05). After exercise, test differences between groups remained (P < 0.05). Nitrates were significantly higher in the group of athletes and did not show exercise-related changes. Plasma levels of cGMP and ANP increased in both groups after the treadmill test, with no differences between groups. Among the athletes, cGMP increased from 1.11 +/- 0.1 to 2.6 +/- 0.4 (P < 0.001), whereas in the untrained group plasma cGMP rose from 1.14 +/- 0.09 to 1.86 +/- 0.2 (P < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between the increases in plasma cGMP and the atrial natriuretic peptide in both groups (r = 0.91, P < 0.0002, for athletes; and r= 0.68, P < 0.04, for control group). The intraplatelet concentration of cGMP did not show differences between groups and did not change after exercise. In conclusion, we have found increased basal levels of plasma nitrite and nitrate in trained subjects. Exercise does not produce differences in the increments of these metabolites. Therefore, we speculate the release of nitric oxide is not augmented by exercise in trained athletes.

Exercise and Oxidative Stress

“…It is in accordance with numerous previous studies that showed that regular physical activity increases the bioavailability of • NO Jungersten et al, 1997;Maeda et al, 2001;Maiorana et al, 2003) and that physically active people have greater basal • NO production compared with a sedentary population (Green et al, 2004;Poveda et al, 1997;Banfi et al, 2006). Studies that investigated the effects of acute exercise on • NO production yielded various results.…”

“…Studies that investigated the effects of acute exercise on • NO production yielded various results. Some studies reported • NO increase with exercise, some reported no change in • NO production and some reported a decrease in • NO production with exercise (Jungersten et al, 1997;Rassaf et al, 2007;Allen et al, 2006;Allen et al, 2009;Djordjevic et al, 2010a;Poveda et al, 1997;Djordjevic et al, 2010b;Jakovljevic et al, 2011;Cubrilo et al, 2011). Those differences are probably due to different protocols, i.e.…”

The C Allele in NOS3 -786 T/C Polymorphism is Associated with Elite Soccer Player's Status

“…NO is a well-known vasodilator that plays a key role in blood supply to the tissues, including working muscles [10]. It has been demonstrated that an acute bout of exercise enhances the production of NO, and thereby contributes to skeletal muscle vasodilatation [4,21]. NO is involved in cardioprotection [20], myocardial respiration [15,16], and in insulin-independent glucose uptake into the working muscle fibres [17].…”

Força muscular versus pressão arterial de repouso: uma revisão baseada no treinamento com pesos

“…O estudo de MacDonald et al (26) , por exemplo, não encontrou associação entre os valores de peptídio atrial natriurético com a ocorrência da HPE após uma sessão de exercício com pesos. Contudo, essa substância, embora associada ao comportamento hemodinâmico, não deve apresentar isoladamente efeito relevante na redução da PA após exercício (44) . Mais recentemente, Rezk et al (24) , observaram que a redução na PA após o exercício com pesos deve-se, pelo menos em parte, à diminuição no débito cardíaco.…”