Effects of Long-Term Physical Activity and Diet on Skin Glycation and Achilles Tendon Structure

Abstract

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) accumulate with aging and have been associated with tissue modifications and metabolic disease. Regular exercise has several health benefits, and the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of regular long-term exercise and diet on skin autofluorescence (SAF) as a measure of glycation and on Achilles tendon structure. In connection with the 2017 European Masters Athletics Championships Stadia, high-level male athletes (n = 194) that had regularly trained for more than 10 years were recruited, in addition to untrained controls (n = 34). SAF was non-invasively determined using an AGE Reader. Achilles tendon thickness and vascular Doppler activity were measured by ultrasonography, and diet was assessed by a questionnaire. There was no significant difference in SAF between the athletes and controls. However, greater duration of exercise was independently associated with lower SAF. Diet also had an effect, with a more “Western” diet in youth being associated with increased SAF. Furthermore, our data demonstrated that greater Achilles tendon thickness was associated with aging and training. Together, our data indicate that long-term exercise may yield a modest reduction in glycation and substantially increase Achilles tendon size, which may protect against injury.

Detection of Age-Related Changes in Tendon Molecular Composition by Raman Spectroscopy—Potential for Rapid, Non-Invasive Assessment of Susceptibility to Injury

“…Indeed, excluding this signal may be one of the reasons why fewer differences in fluorescence-removed Raman spectra between old and young tendons were detected in the previous report [17], despite using identical instrumentation and a similar protocol. Fluorescence has been used as an indirect measure of AGEs in human skin in vivo, and a positive correlation with age demonstrated, interestingly, a negative correlation with physical training [38][39][40], suggesting that physical activity can modify the accumulation of age-related chemical modifications. Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy provides the opportunity to measure tendon fluorescence level and Raman spectra simultaneously in a non-invasive manner [18,19,41], and could potentially detect age-related changes, as observed here, in tendon and other tissues in vivo.…”

Assessment of content validity and psychometric properties of VISA-A for Achilles tendinopathy

“…The subjects with symptoms > 3 months were 18 to 65 years of age, of both sexes, with mid-portion Achilles tendon pain seen at a sports medicine clinic and a rheumatology outpatient clinic [ 18 ]. The healthy persons were male participants, 19 to 90 years, in the 2017 European Masters Athletics Championships [ 19 ].…”

A physically active lifestyle is related to a lower level of skin autofluorescence in a large population with chronic-disease (LifeLines cohort)

“… 26 Also, a decline in serum AGE level was shown for a population of healthy, sedentary, non-smoking, middle-aged women ( n = 47) after they participated a 12-week lifestyle modification program that included an exercise component. 27 Furthermore, an independent association was found between more training years and lower SAF values in healthy athletes ( n = 182) compared to sedentary controls ( n = 34), 28 and life-long endurance training was also associated with lower SAF levels in athletes ( n = 15) compared to older untrained persons ( n = 12). 29 A positive association was found between PA and SAF in people with type 1 DM ( n = 119).…”