The responses of the catecholamines and β-endorphin to brief maximal exercise in man

Summary

The responses to brief maximal exercise of 10 male subjects have been studied. During 30 s of exercise on a non-motorised treadmill, the mean power output (mean±SD) was 424.8±41.9 W, peak power 653.3±103.0 W and the distance covered was 167.3±9.7 m. In response to the exercise blood lactate concentrations increased from 0.60±0.26 to 13.46±1.71 mmol·l⁻¹ (p<0.001) and blood glucose concentrations from 4.25±0.45 to 5.59±0.67 mmol·l⁻¹ (p<0.001). The severe nature of the exercise is indicated by the fall in blood pH from 7.38±0.02 to 7.16±0.07 (p<0.001) and the estimated decrease in plasma volume of 11.5±3.4% (p<0.001). The plasma catecholamine concentrations increased from 2.2±0.6 to 13.4±6.4 nmol·l⁻¹ (p<0.001) and 0.2±0.2 to 1.4±0.6 nmol·l⁻¹ (p<0.001) for noradrenaline (NA) and adrenaline (AD) respectively. The plasma concentration of the opioidβ-endorphin increased in response to the exercise from <5.0 to 10.2±3.9 p mol·l⁻¹. The post-exercise AD concentrations correlated with those for lactate as well as with changes in pH and the decrease in plasma volume. Post-exerciseβ-endorphin levels correlated with the peak speed attained during the sprint and the subjects peak power to weight ratio. These results suggest that the increases in plasma adrenaline are related to those factors that reflect the stress of the exercise and the contribution of anaerobic metabolism. In common with other situations that impose stress,β-endorphin concentrations are also increased in response to brief maximal exercise.