The acute effects of exercise and glucose ingestion on circulating angiotensin-converting enzyme in humans

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity has been suggested as a determinant of some exercise phenotypes via some studies that have associated the ACE gene with exercise performance, although several studies provide conflicting evidence regarding the influence of the ACE gene. The relationships between ACE phenotype (ACE activity) and various exercise parameters should also be examined. An early step in this process is to determine whether common environmental stimuli such as exercise and diet have acute effects on ACE activity. In this study, the acute effects of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise and glucose ingestion on circulating ACE activity were examined. On three separate occasions, 20 healthy adult volunteers (9 female and 11 male) performed 20 min of submaximal cycle exercise at 70-80% of maximal heart rate, four sets of ten repetitions of unilateral leg extension resistance exercise at ten-repetition maximum load, or ingested 1 g kg(-1) glucose. Circulating ACE activity was assessed for 1 h after each intervention using a modified fluorometric method. Pre-intervention ACE activity remained remarkably stable across test days (difference < or =1.8%). Furthermore, there was no significant change in circulating ACE activity following any of the interventions (difference from pre-intervention values < or =6.8% when unadjusted for plasma volume changes, < or =4.5% when adjusted for plasma volume changes). These results suggest that acute exercise and glucose ingestion interventions as used here do not affect circulating ACE activity. These findings are an early step in illuminating the relationships between ACE activity and various exercise parameters.