Abstract
Purpose
Habitual endurance exercise results in increased erythropoiesis, which is primarily controlled by erythropoietin (EPO), yet studies demonstrating upregulation of EPO via a single bout of endurance exercise have been equivocal. This study compares the acute EPO response to 30 min of high versus 90 min of moderate-intensity endurance exercise and whether that response can be upregulated via selective adrenergic receptor blockade.
Methods
Using a counterbalanced, cross-over design, fifteen participants (age 28 ± 8) completed two bouts of running (30-min, high intensity vs 90-min, moderate intensity) matched for overall training stress. A separate cohort of fourteen participants (age 31 ± 6) completed three bouts of 30-min high-intensity cycling after ingesting the preferential β1-adrenergic receptor (AR) antagonist bisoprolol, the non-preferential β1 + β2 antagonist nadolol or placebo. Venous blood was collected before, during, and after exercise, and serum EPO levels were determined by ELISA.
Results
No detectable EPO response was observed during or after high intensity running, however, in the moderate-intensity trial EPO was significantly elevated at both during-exercise timepoints (+ 6.8% ± 2.3% at 15 min and + 8.7% ± 2.2% at 60 min). No significant change in EPO was observed post-cycling or between the trials involving βAR blockade.
Conclusion
Neither training mode (running or cycling), nor beta-blockade significantly influenced the EPO response to 30 min of high-intensity exercise, however, 90 min of moderate-intensity running elevated EPO during exercise, returning to baseline immediately post-exercise. Identifying the optimal mode, duration and intensity required to evoke an EPO response to exercise may help tailor exercise prescriptions designed to maximize EPO response for both performance and clinical applications.
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Availability of data and materials
Supporting data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Code availability
SPSS (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) versions 25 and 26 (RRID: SCR_002865) was used for all statistical analyses and Prism (GraphPad, San Diego, CA, USA) version 8 (RRID: SCR_002798) was used to create all figures. No custom code was used in this research.
Abbreviations
- βAR:
-
Beta-adrenergic receptor
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CI:
-
Confidence Interval
- EDTA:
-
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
- EPO:
-
Erythropoietin
- HCT:
-
Hematocrit
- HGB:
-
Hemoglobin
- HIF:
-
Hypoxia inducible factor
- LT:
-
Lactate threshold
- MCH:
-
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin
- MCHC:
-
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration
- MCV:
-
Mean corpuscular volume
- MPV:
-
Mean platelet volume PLT Platelets
- RBC:
-
Red blood cells
- RDW:
-
Red-cell distribution width
- RPE:
-
Rating of perceived exertion
- SAO2 :
-
Arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation
- SPO2 :
-
Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation
- VO2 :
-
Volume of oxygen
- VO2max:
-
Maximum rate of oxygen consumption
- VO2peak:
-
Peak rate of oxygen consumption
- VCO2 :
-
Volume of carbon dioxide
- VT:
-
Ventilatory threshold
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant R21 CA197527-01A1 to R.J. Simpson, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Foundational Research Grant to N. Agha. I would like to thank Rachel (Graff) Levine and Bridgette Rooney for their contribution to data collection and analysis, as well as Justin Reed for experimental design and manuscript review.
Funding
This work was supported by National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant R21 CA197527-01A1 to R.J. Simpson and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Foundational Research Grant to N. Agha.
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Azadan, R.J., Agha, N.H., Kunz, H.E. et al. The effects of normoxic endurance exercise on erythropoietin (EPO) production and the impact of selective β1 and non-selective β1 + β2 adrenergic receptor blockade. Eur J Appl Physiol 121, 1499–1511 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04558-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04558-4