The effect of exercise on circulating immunoreactive calcitonin in men

Moderate-duration exercise increases serum catecholamine and serum calcium levels and might as a result be also expected to increase the levels of circulating serum immunoreactive human calcitonin (HCT). To explore this possibility, HCT was studied during and after moderate duration symptom-limited dynamic exercise in 13 healthy males, mean age 28 +/- 6.9 (SD) years. The mean duration of exercise using the Bruce treadmill protocol was 14.1 +/- 2.2 (SD) minutes. The mean heart rate (HR) peaked at 185 +/- 6 (SD) bpm which was 96.1% of the predicted maximal HR for age. Values for HCT, uncorrected for changes in plasma volume, showed a minimal decrease in the recovery phase, whilst HCT corrected for changes in plasma volume did not alter during exercise or recovery. The serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) also did not change. At peak exercise, uncorrected but not corrected values for plasma noradrenaline, adrenaline and dopamine had increased significantly. Corrected plasma total calcium increased during recovery. In summary, dynamic weight-bearing moderate-duration exercise did not elevate HCT in healthy males.