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Emerging concepts in exercise training in chronic heart failure.
G Q Villani1, A Capucci, M F Piepoli
1Department of Cardiology, Polichirurgico General Hospital, Piacenza, Italy.
Summary
Heart failure shares similarities with muscular deconditioning, impacting skeletal muscle. Exercise training improves muscle function and may reduce neural activation, suggesting a skeletal muscle origin for heart failure symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Exercise Physiology
- Skeletal Muscle Biology
Background:
- Heart failure (HF) and muscular deconditioning exhibit objective similarities.
- Both conditions involve deficiencies in peripheral blood flow and skeletal muscle function, morphology, and metabolism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the potential skeletal muscle origin of symptoms in heart failure.
- To investigate the mechanisms by which exercise training benefits skeletal muscle in the context of heart failure.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent studies on the effects of physical activity and exercise training.
- Analysis of direct and indirect effects of exercise on skeletal muscle characteristics and neural activation.
Main Results:
- Exercise training improves ventilatory control, metabolism, and autonomic nervous system function.
- Training directly enhances skeletal muscle function, histology, and biochemistry.
- Exercise training indirectly reduces the activation of muscle neural afferents (ergoreceptors).
Conclusions:
- A skeletal muscle origin for heart failure symptoms is proposed based on exercise training effects.
- Metabolic mediators of ergoreceptors are potential therapeutic targets for heart failure symptoms.