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Réponse adrénergique à l'exercice musculaire intense chez le sujet sédentaire en fonction de l'emotivité et de l'entrainement

Adrenergic response to intense muscular work in sedentary man in relation to emotivity and physical training

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Summary

Seven male sedentary human subjects were studied during intense muscular work (80% of maximal oxygen uptake) performed either for 15 min or until exhaustion (mean duration: 47±2 min).

Plasma catecholamines were estimated before and after the experiment by means of an original fluorimetric assay. Epinephrine and norepinephrine were individually isolated from plasma and assayed in single extracts by a highly sensitive fluorimetric method. Epinephrine or norepinephrine levels as low as 15 ng per liter were detectable by this procedure in human plasma.

The adrenergic pattern was found to be greatly different from one subject to another and related to emotivity: the effect of this factor was revealed by the predominance of epinephrine in plasma at rest or under exercise (ratio NA/A <1).

In nonemotive subjects (ratio NA/A>1 at rest) plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine increased progressively during exercise. Increments after exercise were higher for norepinephrine changes; however, the fact that epinephrine concentrations correlated significantly with norepinephrine suggests a simultaneous and coordinated stimulation of adrenal glands and orthosympathetic nervous system.

In emotive subjects (ratio NA/A<1 at rest) the apprehension of muscular work promoted a difference in catecholamine responses: norepinephrine release was not affected by subject's anxiety, while epinephrine secretion, already elevated before the test, reached a high degree of magnitude in the first minutes of muscular work, remaining nearly constant until exhaustion.

Physical training of nonemotive subjects, during 2 months with two intense exercises by a week, reduced strongly norepinephrine release after exhaustive muscular work. In the same conditions, the adrenal-medullary response was not significantly modified when compared with untrained subjects.

Our results suggest that the adrenergic behaviour during exercise is a function of effort intensity to be supplied; catecholamines seem to be important factors in regulating body homeostasy during muscular work in man. In addition, emotive subjects exhibit amplified adrenal-medullary response, which may be related to psychological stimuli.

Résumé

Sept sujets masculins sédentaires ont effectué sur une bicyclette ergométrique des exercices musculaires intenses (80% de la consommation maximale d'oxygène), soit d'une courte durée (15 min), soit pendant le temps nécessaire pour atteindre l'épuisement (durée moyenne égale à 47±2 min).

Les catécholamines plasmatiques ont été dosées par une méthode originale avant le début de l'exercice et pendant la dernière minute de course. L'adrénaline et la noradrénaline sont, dans ce protocole, extraites séparément du plasma et dosées chacune dans des éluats distincts par une méthode fluorimétrique de haute sensibilité. Cette technique permet de déceler des concentrations aussi faibles que 15 ng par litre de plasma.

Il apparaÎt une différence de réponse très importante selon l'émotivité des sujets, révélée par la prédominance de la sécrétion d'adrénaline au repos et à l'exercice (rapport NA/A<1).

Chez les sujets non émotifs (rapport NA/A>1 au repos), l'adrénalinémie et la noradrénalinémie augmentent proportionnellement à la durée de l'exercice. Les variations de noradrénalinémie sont plus élevées que celles d'adrénalinémie; cependant, les taux d'adrénaline sont corrélés à ceux de noradrénaline, ce qui suggère une stimulation parallèle et coordonnée des glandes médullo-surrénales et du système nerveux orthosympathique.

Chez les sujets émotifs (rapport NA/A<1 au repos), l'appréhension de l'épreuve provoque la dissociation des réponses adrénalinique et noradrénalinique: alors que la libération de noradrénaline ne semble pas altérée par l'anxiété du sujet, la sécrétion d'adrénaline s'élève déjà avant l'épreuve et devient massive au début de celle-ci, puis reste sensiblement constante jusqu'à l'épuisement.

L'entraÎnement (deux exercices intenses par semaine pendant deux mois) s'accompagne chez les non émotifs d'une réduction très marquée de la libération de noradrénaline pendant l'exercice épuisant. Dans les mÊmes conditions, la réponse médullo-surrénalienne n'est pas significativement modifiée.

Ces résultats montrent que la réponse adrénergique varie en fonction de l'intensité de l'épreuve et paraÎt très adaptée aux besoins de l'organisme pendant celle-ci; ceci suggère que les catécholamines jouent un rÔle très important chez l'homme dans la régulation de l'homéostasie lors de l'exercice intense. Cependant, à cette sécrétion spécifique ajustée, se superpose, chez les sujets émotifs, une stimulation médullo-surrénalienne très intense qui semble essentiellement d'origine psychologique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.E.R. Grange-Blanche Laboratoire de Physiologie A, Université Claude Bernard, F-69373, Lyon, Cedex 2, France

    J. M. Pequignot, L. Peyrin, R. Favier & R. Flandrois

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  1. J. M. Pequignot
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  2. L. Peyrin
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  3. R. Favier
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  4. R. Flandrois
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E.R. 196, CNRS, ≪Catécholamines≫

E.R.A. 330, CNRS, ≪Exercice musculaire≫

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Pequignot, J.M., Peyrin, L., Favier, R. et al. Réponse adrénergique à l'exercice musculaire intense chez le sujet sédentaire en fonction de l'emotivité et de l'entrainement. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 40, 117–135 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421157

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