Muscular exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men.

Area of Science:

• Exercise physiology
• Clinical chemistry
• Hepatology

Background:

• Idiosyncratic drug hepatotoxicity is a significant challenge in drug development.
• Physical exercise can transiently affect liver function tests (LFTs).
• Current literature lacks consensus on exercise types and their impact on LFTs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of intensive weightlifting on liver function parameters in healthy men.
• To assess changes in clinical chemistry markers post-exercise.

Main Methods:

• Fifteen healthy men, accustomed to moderate exercise, underwent a 1-hour weightlifting program.
• Blood samples were collected for LFTs (AST, ALT, LD, CK, myoglobin, etc.) over 7 days post-exercise.

Main Results:

• Significant increases (P < 0.01) were observed in AST, ALT, LD, CK, and myoglobin post-weightlifting.
• These elevated levels persisted for at least 7 days.
• Bilirubin, gamma GT, and ALP remained within normal ranges.

Conclusions:

• Weightlifting causes substantial, prolonged elevations in key liver function tests (AST, ALT, LD, CK, myoglobin).
• These findings underscore the necessity of restricting strenuous exercise before and during clinical trials.
• Weightlifting should be considered a potential cause of asymptomatic LFT elevations in clinical practice.