Cardiac function following prolonged exercise: influence of age

J Appl Physiol (1985). 2011 Jun;110(6):1541-8. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01242.2010. Epub 2011 Mar 24.

Abstract

This study sought to determine the influence of age on the left ventricular (LV) response to prolonged exercise (PE; 150 min). LV systolic and diastolic performance was assessed using echocardiography (ECHO) before (pre) and 60 min following (post) exercise performed at 80% maximal aerobic power in young (28 ± 4.5 years; n = 18; mean ± SD) and middle-aged (52 ± 3.9 years; n = 18) participants. LV performance was assessed using two-dimensional ECHO, including speckle-tracking imaging, to determine LV strain (LV S) and LV S rate (LV SR), in addition to Doppler measures of diastolic function. We observed a postexercise elevation in LV S (young: -19.5 ± 2.1% vs. -21.6 ± 2.1%; middle-aged: -19.9 ± 2.3% vs. -20.8 ± 2.1%; P < 0.05) and LV SR (young: -1.19 ± 0.1 vs. -1.37 ± 0.2; middle-aged: -1.20 ± 0.2 vs. -1.38 ± 0.2; P < 0.05) during recovery in both groups. Diastolic function was reduced during recovery, including the LV SR ratio of early-to-late atrial diastolic filling (SR(e/a)), in young (2.35 ± 0.7 vs. 1.89 ± 0.5; P < 0.01) and middle-aged (1.51 ± 0.5 vs. 1.05 ± 0.2; P < 0.01) participants, as were conventional indices including the E/A ratio. Dobutamine stress ECHO revealed a postexercise depression in LV S in response to increasing dobutamine dose, which was similar in both young (pre-exercise dobutamine 0 vs. 20 μg·kg(-1)·min(-1): -19.5 ± 2.1 vs. -27.2 ± 2.2%; postexercise dobutamine 0 vs. 20 μg·kg(-1)·min(-1): -21.6 ± 2.1 vs. -23.7 ± 2.2%; P < 0.05) and middle-aged participants (pre: -19.9 ± 2.3 vs. -25.3 ± 2.7%; post: -20.8 ± 2.1 vs. -23.5 ± 2.7; P < 0.05). This was despite higher noradrenaline concentrations immediately postexercise in the middle-aged participants compared with young (4.26 ± 2.7 nmol/L vs. 3.00 ± 1.4 nmol/L; P = 0.12). These data indicate that LV dysfunction is observed following PE and that advancing age does not increase the magnitude of this response.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aging*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Cardiotonic Agents
  • Diastole
  • Dobutamine
  • Echocardiography, Doppler
  • Echocardiography, Stress
  • Exercise*
  • Female
  • Heart Ventricles / diagnostic imaging
  • Heart Ventricles / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle Contraction
  • Norepinephrine / blood
  • Oxygen Consumption
  • Recovery of Function
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Stroke Volume
  • Systole
  • Time Factors
  • Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / blood
  • Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / diagnostic imaging
  • Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / etiology
  • Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / physiopathology*
  • Ventricular Function, Left*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Cardiotonic Agents
  • Dobutamine
  • Norepinephrine