ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 August;60(8):1159-66

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.10681-9

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

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

Daniela K. ANDAKU ¹, Bruno ARCHIZA ¹, Flávia R. CARUSO ¹, Renata TRIMER ¹, André C. AMARAL ², José C. BONJORNO Jr ³, Claudio R. de OLIVEIRA ³, Shane A. PHILLIPS ^{1, 4}, Ross ARENA ⁴, Audrey BORGHI-SILVA ¹ ✉

¹ Laboratory of Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, Brazil; ² Department of Physical Therapy, University of Araraquara, Araraquara, Brazil; ³ Department of Medicine, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, Brazil; ⁴ Laboratory of Integrative Physiology, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

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.

KEY WORDS: Vascular endothelium; Exercise; Exercise test; Women; Sports