Hormonal and metabolic responses to maintained hyperglycemia during prolonged exercise.

We studied the effects of maintained hyperglycemia (12 mmol/l) on endurance exercise to determine the hormonal and metabolic responses, the maximal rate of glucose infusion (i.e., utilization), and the effects on muscle glycogen stores. Eight men undertook two trials during which they exercised on a cycle ergometer at an intensity of approximately 70% peak O(2) uptake for 120 min. In the first trial (trial A), subjects had their blood glucose concentration clamped at 12 mmol/l 30 min before exercise and throughout exercise. The same rate and volume of infusion of saline as had occurred for trial A were used in a placebo trial (trial B). Maintained hyperglycemia resulted in significantly lowered plasma concentrations of nonesterified fatty acid, glycerol, 3-hydroxybutyrate, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and growth hormone (P < 0.001) during exercise, whereas concentrations of plasma insulin were significantly elevated (P < 0.001). Calculations of the rates of total carbohydrate oxidation showed that trial A resulted in significantly higher values when compared with trial B (P < 0.01) and that the maximal rates of glucose infusion varied between 1.33 and 2.78 g/min at 100-120 min. Muscle glycogen concentrations were significantly depleted (P < 0.01) after both trials (trial A, 170.3 micromol/g dry wt decrease; trial B, 206 micromol/g dry wt decrease), although this apparent difference may be accounted for by storage of 22.6 g glucose during the 30-min prime infusion. The results from this study confirm that maintained hyperglycemia attenuates the hormonal response and promotes carbohydrate oxidation and utilization and that muscle glycogen may not be spared.     

Acute and habitual caffeine ingestion and metabolic responses to steady-state exercise.

This study compared the exercise catecholamine and metabolic responses to a caffeine challenge in trained subjects before and after a 6-wk period of increased caffeine ingestion. Trained subjects (n = 6) were challenged with 500 mg of caffeine followed by prolonged exercise before and after 6 wk of increased caffeine ingestion (500 mg ingested before each daily run). A control group (n = 6) of trained subjects followed the same protocol except for caffeine ingestion. Acute caffeine ingestion resulted in increased plasma epinephrine and decreased respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during exercise. After 6 wk of caffeine supplementation, the epinephrine response to exercise or caffeine plus exercise was decreased, although the latter still resulted in a lower RER value compared with exercise without caffeine ingestion. Activity of key metabolic enzymes (hexokinase, citrate synthase, phosphorylase, and 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase) from biopsies of the gastrocnemius showed no response to 6 wk of this increased adrenergic receptor stimulation and, on the basis of the lower RER, enhanced fat metabolism. This study suggests that caffeine ingestion by trained subjects causes increases in plasma epinephrine and reduces the RER during exercise. However, habitual stimulation results in a general dampening of the epinephrine response to caffeine or exercise. There was no indication that increased adrenergic stimulation and fat oxidation caused any adaptation in the activity of metabolic enzymes.     

Neurohumoral responses during prolonged exercise in humans.

This study examined neurohumoral alterations during prolonged exercise with and without hyperthermia. The cerebral oxygen-to-carbohydrate uptake ratio (O2/CHO = arteriovenous oxygen difference divided by arteriovenous glucose difference plus one-half lactate), the cerebral balances of dopamine, and the metabolic precursor of serotonin, tryptophan, were evaluated in eight endurance-trained subjects during exercise randomized to be with or without hyperthermia. The core temperature stabilized at 37.9 +/- 0.1 degrees C (mean +/- SE) in the control trial, whereas it increased to 39.7 +/- 0.2 degrees C in the hyperthermic trial, with a concomitant increase in perceived exertion (P < 0.05). At rest, the brain had a small release of tryptophan (arteriovenous difference of -1.2 +/- 0.3 micromol/l), whereas a net balance was obtained during the two exercise trials. Both the arterial and jugular venous dopamine levels became elevated during the hyperthermic trial, but the net release from the brain was unchanged. During exercise, the O2/CHO was similar across trials, but, during recovery from the hyperthermic trial, the ratio decreased to 3.8 +/- 0.3 (P < 0.05), whereas it returned to the baseline level of approximately 6 within 5 min after the control trial. The lowering of O2/CHO was established by an increased arteriovenous glucose difference (1.1 +/- 0.1 mmol/l during recovery from hyperthermia vs. 0.7 +/- 0.1 mmol/l in control; P < 0.05). The present findings indicate that the brain has an increased need for carbohydrates during recovery from strenuous exercise, whereas enhanced perception of effort as observed during exercise with hyperthermia was not related to alterations in the cerebral balances of dopamine or tryptophan.     

Effects of a 24-h carbohydrate-poor diet on metabolic and hormonal responses during prolonged glucose-infused leg exercise

Extant literature dealing with metabolic and hormonal adaptations to exercise following carbohydrate (CHO) reduced diets is not sufficiently precise to allow researchers to partial out the effects of reduced blood glucose levels from other general effects produced by low CHO diets. In order to shed light on this issue, a study was conducted to examine the effects of a 24-h CHO-poor diet on substrate and endocrine responses during prolonged (75 min; 60% Vo2max) glucose-infused leg exercise. Eight subjects exercised on a cycle ergometer in the two following conditions: 1) after a normal diet (CHON), and 2) after a 24-h low CHO diet (CHOL). In both conditions, glucose was constantly infused intravenously (2.2 mg . kg-1 . min-1) from the 10th to the 75th min of exercise in relatively small amounts (10.4 +/- 0.8 g). No significant differences in blood glucose concentrations were found between the two conditions at rest and during exercise although a significant increase (p less than 0.01) in glucose level was observed in both conditions after 40 min of exercise. The CHOL as compared to the CHON condition, was associated with significantly (p less than 0.05) lower resting concentrations of insulin, muscle glycogen (8.7 vs 10.6 g . kg-1), and triacylglycerol, and greater concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate (0.5 vs 0.2 mmol . L-1), and free fatty acids. During exercise, the CHOL condition as compared to the CHON condition, was associated with significantly (p less than 0.05) lower insulin and R values, as well as greater free fatty acid (from min 20 to 60) and epinephrine (min 60 to 75) concentrations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Thermoregulatory and metabolic responses to repeated bouts of prolonged cycle-ergometer exercise in man

Changes in body temperature, oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), sweating rate and plasma osmolarity were examined in 10 human subjects, performing four successive 30 min exercise-bouts of the same intensity (50% VO2 max) separated by 30 min rest periods. In spite of the rest intervals and replacement of body fluid loss there was a progressive increase in VO2. HR, rectal (Tre) and mean body (Tb) temperatures in consecutive exercise bouts. The thermoregulatory efficiency showed an increasing tendency, and a delay in the sweating response at the beginning of each exercise was shortened. It is concluded that a drift in metabolic and temperature responses to exercise, reported throughout a long-term continuous work, occurs also in the euhydrated subjects performing a prolonged intermittent exercise. It is not caused by an impaired thermoregulation during exercise but rather by insufficient restitution of metabolic processes during rest intervals.     

Metabolic, catecholamine, and endurance responses to caffeine during intense exercise

Jackman, M., P. Wendling, D. Friars, and T. E. Graham.Metabolic, catecholamine, and endurance responses to caffeine during intense exercise. J. Appl.Physiol. 81(4): 1658-1663, 1996.This studyexamined the possible effects of caffeine ingestion on muscle metabolism and endurance during brief intense exercise. We tested 14 subjects after they ingested placebo or caffeine (6 mg/kg) with anexercise protocol in which they cycled for 2 min, rested 6 min, cycled2 min, rested 6 min, and then cycled to voluntary exhaustion. In eachexercise the intensity required the subject's maximalO₂ consumption. Eight subjects hadmuscle and venous blood samples taken before and after each exerciseperiod. The caffeine ingestion resulted in a significant increase inendurance (4.12 ± 0.36 and 4.93 ± 0.60 min for placebo andcaffeine, respectively) and resulted in a significant increase inplasma epinephrine concentration throughout the protocol but not innorepinephrine concentration. During the first two exercise bouts, thepower and work output were not different; blood lactate concentrationswere not affected significantly by caffeine ingestion, but during theexercise bouts muscle lactate concentration was significantly increasedby caffeine. The net decrease in muscle glycogen was not differentbetween treatments at any point in the protocol, and even at the time of fatigue there was at least 50% of the original glycogenconcentration remaining. The data demonstrated that caffeine ingestioncan be an effective ergogenic aid for exercise that is as brief as4-6 min. However, the mechanism is not associated with muscleglycogen sparing. It is possible that caffeine is exerting actionsdirectly on the active muscle and/or the neural processes thatare involved in the activity.

     

Respiratory responses to intermittent and prolonged exercise in a hot-dry environment

Ventilatory gas exchange ratio (R), V?O₂, ventilation (V?_E), respiration rate (RR), rectal temperature (T_re), and heart rate (HR) were determined for four acclimatized subjects during intermittent and prolonged exercise on a treadmill at 24° and 45°C (dry) as follows: 1) 8 cycles (10 min. exercise and 5 min. rest), and 2) prolonged exercise lasting for 90 min. While during intermittent and prolonged exercise, V?O₂ and V?_E did not differ in the heat, RR, T_re, HR and the respiratory dead space were higher in the hot ambient environment. After steady-state attainment, exercise R was higher in the initial as compared to the last cycles with higher values in neutral as compared to the hot ambient condition. It was concluded that heat was more effective than time in lowering the R, probably with a greater dependence on fat oxidation in the latter exercise cycles which seemed to be more pronounced in the heat.     

Human blood neutrophil responses to prolonged exercise with and without a thermal clamp.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of prolonged exercise with and without a thermal clamp on neutrophil trafficking, bacterial-stimulated neutrophil degranulation, stress hormones, and cytokine responses. Thirteen healthy male volunteers (means +/- SE: age 21 +/- 1 yr; mass 74.9 +/- 2.1 kg; maximal oxygen uptake 58 +/- 1 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)) completed four randomly assigned, 2-h water-immersion trials separated by 7 days. Trials were exercise-induced heating (EX-H: water temperature 36 degrees C), exercise with a thermal clamp (EX-C: 24 degrees C), passive heating (PA-H: 38.5 degrees C), and control (CON: 35 degrees C). EX-H and EX-C was comprised of 2 h of deep water running at 58% maximal oxygen uptake. Blood samples were collected at pre-, post-, and 1 h postimmersion. Core body temperature was unaltered on CON, clamped on EX-C (-0.02 degrees C), and rose by 2.23 degrees C and 2.31 degrees C on EX-H and PA-H, respectively. Exercising with a thermal clamp did not blunt the neutrophilia postexercise (EX-C postexercise: 9.6 +/- 1.1 and EX-H postexercise: 9.8 +/- 1.0 x 10(9)/liter). Neutrophil degranulation decreased (P < 0.01) similarly immediately after PA-H (-21%), EX-C, and EX-H (-28%). EX-C blunted the circulating norepinephrine, cortisol, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and IL-6 response (P < 0.01) but not the plasma epinephrine and serum growth hormone response. These results show a similar neutrophilia and decrease in neutrophil degranulation after prolonged exercise with and without a thermal clamp. As such, the rise in core body temperature does not appear to mediate neutrophil trafficking and degranulation responses to prolonged exercise. In addition, these results suggest a limited role for cortisol, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and IL-6 in the observed neutrophil responses to prolonged exercise.     

Physiological responses to prolonged exercise in ultramarathon athletes

The physiological responses of 10 ultramarathon athletes to prolonged exercise at the highest intensity level they could sustain for 4 h have been examined. Energy expenditure for the 4 h of exercise was 14,146 +/- 1,789 kJ, of which 63% was provided by the oxidation of fat. Plasma free fatty acids rose, but the changes in blood lactate concentration (delta 0.2 mmol/l) and exchange ratio (delta 0.05) were small, and the postexercise glycogen content (130 +/- 42 mumol/g) of the vastus lateralis muscles was estimated to be 37-53% of normal resting values. During exercise O2 intake (VO2) increased with time from the 50th to 240th min, the rise becoming significant (P less than 0.01) after 110 min of work. The change in VO2 was equivalent to a rise in relative intensity (%VO2max) of +9.1% and a change of speed of 1.49 km/h. A rise in cardiac frequency compensated for a fall in stroke volume (SV), so that cardiac output was maintained, and the increases in rectal temperature (Tre) (delta 0.63 degree C) and sweat loss (3.49 +/- 0.50 kg, equivalent to 5.5% of body wt) and the decreased mean skin temperature (Tsk) (-1.22 degree C) were within tolerable limits during exercise. Following exercise there was a loss (-25%) of ability to generate voluntary force of the quadriceps femoris, though electrically evoked mechanical properties of the muscle remained unchanged. The results suggest that neither thermal nor cardiovascular factors are limiting to prolonged (4 h) exercise, although the ability to utilize fat as a fuel may be important in ultradistance athletes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Physiological responses to prolonged physical exercise in dogs

1. Duration of exercise until exhaustion is significantly correlated with body weight of dogs. 2. Rectal temperature (Tre) achieved at the end of the effort depends on the resting value of Tre, but the exercise-induced increases in Tre are unrelated to the initial Tre. 3. The magnitude of exercise-induced decrease in blood glucose (BG) level is positively correlated with the resting BG level and negatively correlated with the elevations of the plasma free fatty-acid (FFA) concentration. 4. A significant positive relationship is found between the exercise-induced increases in the plasma FFA levels and noradrenalinaemia.