Exercise-Induced Cardiac Biomarker Elevation: Physiological Response or Pathological Warning?
Intense endurance exercise, particularly running, produces mild to moderate elevations in cardiac troponin and natriuretic peptides, though the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This review found that cardiac fibrosis biomarkers appear most informative regarding the biological impact of intense physical activity, with some evidence suggesting higher cardiac risk in poorly trained versus well-trained athletes. Whether repeated intensive exercise leads to long-term fibrosis and heart failure remains an unresolved clinical question.
The original study
Intense sport practices and cardiac biomarkers.
- Authors
- Le Goff C, Farré Segura J, Dufour P, Kaux JF, Cavalier E
- Journal
- Clinical biochemistry
- Type
- Journal Article, Review
- PMID
- 32097617
Original abstract
Biomarkers are well established for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, heart failure and cardiac fibrosis. Different papers on cardiac biomarker evolution during exercise have been published in the literature and generally show mild to moderate elevations. However, the mechanism responsible for these elevations, reflecting physiological or even pathophysiological changes, still has to be clearly elucidated. There are also indications of higher cardiac risk in poorly trained athletes than in well-trained athletes. Whether regular repetition of intensive exercise might lead, in the longer term, to fibrosis and heart failure remains to be determined. In this review, we summarized the main research about the effects of intense exercise (in particular, running) on cardiac biomarkers (including troponins, natriuretic peptides, etc.). We found that cardiac fibrosis biomarkers seemed to be the most informative regarding the biological impact of intense physical activity.