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Effects of marathon running on plasma total homocysteine concentrations
J T Real1, A Merchante, J L Gómez
1Endocrinología y Nutrición, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, Spain.
Aims:
There is evidence of an excess of acute cardiovascular (CV) events in marathon runners. High plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations are a recognised risk factor for CV events. Therefore, we investigated the changes in plasma tHcy concentrations 24h before and after a marathon race.
Methods And Results:
Twenty-two non-professional male athletes, mean age 35.6 (6.6), range 23-49 years, were studied the day before and 24 h after finishing a marathon race. None of the athletes was a carrier of the MTHFR 677TT genotype and no ingestion of supplements of vitamins (B12, B6, folic acid) was allowed.
Results:
Changes in plasma folate and plasma vitamin B12 concentrations were not detected post-race, but a significant increase in plasma tHcy concentrations was demonstrated. Plasma tHcy increased 19% 24h after the race. Before the race 20% of the subjects had a plasma tHcy concentration > 10 micromol/l (cut-off point for ischaemic heart disease risk), while after the race 50% had plasma tHcy concentrations> 10 micromol/l.
Conclusion:
An increase in plasma tHcy concentrations was observed after a marathon race in non-professional not well-trained male athletes performing strong physical activity. The potential physiological or pathological implications of this finding are unknown.
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