Short-term effects of maximal dynamic exercise on flow-mediated dilation in professional female soccer players.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial function assessment may provide important insights into the cardiovascular function and long-term effects of exercise training. Many studies have investigated the possible negative effects on cardiovascular function due to extreme athletic performance, leading to undesirable effects. The purposes of this study were to investigate the acute effects of maximal intensity exercise on endothelium-dependent vasodilation, and to understand the patterns of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) change following maximal exercise in elite female athletes with a high-volume training history. METHODS: Twenty-six elite female soccer players (mean age, 22±4 years; BMI, 21±2 kg/m2; VO2max, 41±4 mL/kg/min) were evaluated. Brachial artery FMD was determined using high-resolution ultrasound at rest, and after 15 and 60 min of maximal cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) testing on a treadmill. Flow velocity was measured at baseline and during reactive hyperemia at the same periods. RESULTS: Rest FMD was 12.4±5.5%. Peak diameter in response to reactive hyperemia was augmented after 15 min of CPX (3.5±0.4 vs. 3.6±0.4 mm, P<0.05), returning to resting values after 60 min. However, %FMD did not change among time periods. There were two characteristic patterns of FMD response following CPX. Compared to FMD at rest, half of the subjects responded with an increased FMD following maximum exercise (10.5±6.1 vs. 17.8±7.5%, P<0.05). The other subjects demonstrated a reduced FMD response following maximum exercise (14.2±4.3 vs. 10.9±3.2%, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that elite female soccer players presented robust brachial artery FMD at rest, with a heterogeneous FMD response to acute exercise with a 50% FMD improvement rate.

Exercise Training Does Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients.

Although exercise is recognized as an important component of the management for patients following bariatric surgery (BS), its effectiveness on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is still unclear. To investigate this relationship between BS and CRF, a systematic review was conducted in the MEDLINE database. The literature search included studies involving exercise training in patients following BS. A total of 306 studies were identified, 7 met the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Exercise training was found to result in a moderate and significant increase in VO2max (SMD = 0.430, 95% CI 0.157; 0.704, p = 0.002) following BS. The results from this meta-analysis indicate that exercise training can significantly improve CRF. Further research is needed to determine the ideal training duration and exercise training parameters for patients following BS.