Brain derived neutrophic factor, a link of aerobic metabolism to neuroplasticity.

Currently, literature has accumulated great knowledge over the effect of exercise on the neurotrophin named brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its role in neuronal plasticity. However, there is no enough discussion about how the exercise is related to enrichment of BDNF in specific metabolic properties. This review provides the current evidences regarding aerobic metabolism relation to BDNF concentrations in healthy individuals. A PICOS strategy was applied considering the mesh terms for: P - healthy subjects; I - physical exercise; C - aerobic metabolism demands; O - BDNF concentrations; S - before and after aerobic exercise; on PubMed, Scopus and Medline databases. Studies presenting at least one session the exercise with reports of BDNF analysis before and after were included. Reviews, letters, case-reports, articles not written in English, non- published or involving non-healthy populations were excluded. Compiling results, it was possible to observe a close interaction between different aerobic energy demands from the exercise models and the responses of BDNF, suggesting thus that increases in BDNF concentrations are associated to the amount of aerobic energy required by exercise in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the dynamics of BDNF synthesis and reuptake resemble the functioning of the metabolic systems of aerobic energy generation, with which they share a co-transcriptional factor dependence.

Effect of ultra-endurance exercise on left ventricular performance and plasma cytokines in healthy trained men.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ultra-endurance exercise on left ventricular (LV) performance and plasma concentration of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-18 and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) as well as to examine the relationships between exercise-induced changes in plasma cytokines and those in echocardiographic indices of LV function in ultra-marathon runners. Nine healthy trained men (mean age 30±1.0 years) participated in a 100-km ultra-marathon. Heart rate, blood pressure, ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), ratio of early (E) to late (A) mitral inflow peak velocities (E/A), ratio of early (E') to late (A') diastolic mitral annulus peak velocities (E'/A') and E-wave deceleration time (DT) were obtained by echocardiography before, immediately after and in the 90th minute of the recovery period. Blood samples were taken before each echocardiographic evaluation. The ultra-endurance exercise caused significant increases in plasma IL-6, IL-10, IL-18 and TNF-α. Echocardiography revealed significant decreases in both E and the E/A ratio immediately after exercise, without any significant changes in EF, FS, DT or the E/E' ratio. At the 90th minute of the recovery period, plasma TNF-α and the E/A ratio did not differ significantly from the pre-exercise values, whereas FS was significantly lower than before and immediately after exercise. The increases in plasma TNF-α correlated with changes in FS (r=0.73) and DT (r=-0.73). It is concluded that ultra-endurance exercise causes alterations in LV diastolic function. The present data suggest that TNF-α might be involved in this effect.