Calorimetric monitoring of the effect of endurance training and testosterone treatment on rat serum denaturation transition

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was applied to evaluate whether endurance training and/or testosterone treatment affect thermal behavior of rat serum. Thirty-six adolescent male Wistar rats were divided into six groups: three untrained and three trained groups, receiving weekly 0, 8, or 80 mg kgBM -1 of testosterone enanthate (TE) each. Total testosterone was significantly higher in both groups treated with the higher TE dose. The rats’ body mass and the levels of serum glucose, uric acid, and free fatty acids were additionally determined. The effect of TE treatment was clearly visible in DSC curves for sedentary rats and much less for trained rats. The differences between averaged endothermic denaturation transitions of serum from sedentary and physically active untreated groups were within an experimental error. A statistically significant increase of the width of peak at its half height and the ratio of excess heat capacity at 75 C and in the temperature of peak maximum (Cp75/Cpmax) were observed due to TE treatment. The same two parameters were significantly lower for physically active rats. Significantly lower values of the enthalpy of serum denaturation (DH) and the first moment of the transition with respect to the temperature axis (M1) were observed for endurance-trained than for sedentary rats

A preliminary study on infrared thermal imaging of cross-country skiers and swimmers subjected to endurance exercise

This study was focused on the thermal mapping of skin over the selected muscle zones in two groups of elite athletes fully engaged in completely other sports performing about an hour running effort at individual AT intensity. Two groups of elite male athletes, a group of cross-country skiers (CS; N = 6) and a group of elite endurance swimmers (SW; N = 4), were investigated. Thermal images of sportsmen’ body at front and from the rear were recorded before and about 1–2 min after exercise test using camera Flir Systems E60. Functional (heart rate, oxygen uptake, workload) as well as biochemical markers (activities of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, concentration of lactate and haemoglobin) were also assessed. The marked differentiation in skin temperature distribution in cross-country skiers and endurance swimmers subjected to the same endurance exercise on treadmill was observed. There was significant decrease in temperature in upper body temperature in CS group, while SW group revealed a significant increase in temperature of the lower limbs. The calculated total body skin temperature was also influenced by practicing training of elite athletes. Some significant correlations of physiological, biochemical and morphological parameters (% fat) with average temperature after exercise test were found for different muscle zones in swimmers and cross-country skiers. Statistical analysis showed that workload had the most impact on skin temperature changes, especially in swimmers. The results provide additional information on the muscle work in the different sport disciplines and may be helpful in efficiency evaluation of elite athletes

Whole-body cryostimulation impact on blood serum thermal denaturation profiles of cross-country skiers

Blood plasma and serum are important diagnostic materials as they clearly reflect an individual’s metabolism. The study has evaluated the effect of whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) on the blood serum of professional cross-country skiers. The experiment involved eight athletes (two women and six men) who underwent a series of ten WBC treatments. Aqueous solutions of human blood serum samples before WBC procedures, after one treatment and after a series of ten treatments were measured by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), a relatively novel diagnostic tool. DSC results showed rather little impact of cryostimulation on heat capacity changes accompanying the process of thermal denaturation of blood serum proteins in elite athletes. However, the statistically significant reduction in the intensity of the serum denaturation transition in its low temperature range has been observed after ten WBC treatments. The results have been interpreted by changes in the serum proteome profile, notably in the ratio of ligated to unligated albumin molecules. As a side result, the relationships between the relative change in body fat mass after ten WBC treatments and the levels of alpha2-globulins and beta2-globulins fractions have been found

Blood serum DSC analysis of well-trained men response to CrossFit training and green tea extract supplementation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used for the detection of post-exercise changes in blood serum resulting from participation in the CrossFit (CF) training combined with green tea extract (GTE) supplementation. Blood samples from 20 well-trained men were collected at rest, immediately post-exercise and after 1 h of recovery in two trials: first before and second after CF training combined with GTE or placebo administration in the supplemented (S) and control (C) groups, respectively. Selected muscle damage biomarkers have been compared in different phases of the experiment. A significant increase in blood lactate content has been observed post-exercise in both trials in both participants’ groups. The opposite trends have been noted for the C and S groups in creatine kinase (CK) activity changes recorded during the first to the second trial: an increase in CK for the control and a decrease for the supplemented group in all phases of the experiment: pre-exercise, post-exercise and after recovery. In the second trial, all CK values for the S group have been found significantly lower than the corresponding values recorded in the C group. These results suggest a mitigate effect of GTE supplementation on post-training muscle damage. DSC results did not reveal clear effects of training nor GTE supplementation on serum denaturation transition. However, interesting dependences of thermodynamic parameters describing this transition have been observed in different phases of the experiment. Statistically significant negative correlations have been found between post-training VO2max and post-exercise thermodynamic parameters associated with haptoglobin contribution to serum denaturation transition

Differential scanning calorimetry reveals that whole‑body cryostimulation in cross‑country skiers can modify their response to physical effort

In sport medicine, cryostimulation is used to help athletes to better support the training workload, to prevent the deleterious effects of strenuous exercise and to improve recovery. In this study, eight elite cross-country skiers had two experimental exercise sessions differing in that the second one was carried out after a series of 10 whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) treatments. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was applied to compare changes in athlete’s blood serum during both sessions. Mean DSC curves of serum collected in four stages of the training session: before exercise, after exercise, at 1 h recovery and after 24 h of rest have shown a similar nature of post-exercise changes and recovery regardless of the WBC. Statistically significant effect of the exercise, reflected in some parameters of serum denaturation transition, has been found. Too small number of participants in our study did not allow to verify the hypothesis

DSC serum profiles of sportsmen

The blood serum of young athletes has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. The component peaks of complex endothermic transition corresponding to serum denaturation may be correlated with the main protein fractions of serum: albumin, alpha-1, alpha-2, beta- and gamma-globulins. The averaged shape of thermal transition observed for serum of sportsmen participating in our pilot study differs from that reported previously for healthy subjects. One of the reason for the difference may be the lower than normal value of albumins to globulins ratio found for individuals in our group of athletes. Modifications of serum DSC transition due to the exercise test and 1 and 2 h rest have been observed. Statistically based conclusions are not currently possible because of the low number of participants in the study. The averaged responses to the effort and to the rest have been shown clearly different for athletes classified as the best and typical. The first moment of the transition with respect to the temperature axis has been found significantly lower for the group of athletes considered as the best

Comparison of human blood serum DSC profiles in aqueous and PBS buffer solutions

The results of studies of physiological fluids by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for the purpose of diagnosis and monitoring of diseases are promising. Before the DSC method is accepted in medical diagnostics, it is worth experimenting with various environmental conditions at the research stage. Among other things, it is important to choose an appropriate solvent to dilute the tested biological fluids. In this work, human blood sera DSC profiles in aqueous and PBS (phosphatebuffered saline) solutions have been compared. Visibility of haptoglobin in the DSC profile of human blood serum is much better in water solution. In addition, contributions from albumin and haptoglobin are well separated in contrast to the PBS serum solutions. The peak or shoulder at about 83 °C which represents contributions from the CH3 domain of immunoglobulin IgG1 and/or transferrin is more clearly visible in PBS solution. The results show that the type of solvent is essential when interpreting the serum DSC profile

Blood serum denaturation profile examined by differential scanning calorimetry reflects the effort put into ultramarathon by amateur long-distance runners

The impact of participation in the ultramarathon on the health and mental and physical condition is very complex. Undoubtedly, exercise brings many benefits but also involves health risks. Especially such an extreme effort as the one associated with finishing the ultramarathon run, can be dangerous to the health of the runner. With the variety of possible biomarkers of excessive fatigue that threaten health and life, a question arises which of them are the best and which should be considered in amateur long-distance runners showing particularly high individual variability. In this study differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been applied to show the overall effect of the 12-h run on blood sera of participants. Serum samples were obtained from the blood of ten male amateur long-distance runners, collected before and immediately after the run. Distinct changes in the shape of DSC curves have been observed for serum after finishing the run relative to pre-race serum. Statistically significant differences between stages “before” and “after” ultramarathon running have been found for parameters of the endothermic transition associated with denaturation of serum proteins. An increase in the temperature (from 70.9 ± 0.9 to 75.8 ± 2.9 ◦C) and excess heat capacity (from 0.859 ± 0.201 to 1.102 ± 0.226 Jg-1 ◦C-1) at peak maximum, the enthalpy of serum denaturation (from 18.55 ± 6.52 to 22.08 ± 5.61 Jg-1) and the first moment of the thermal transition with respect to the temperature (from the value of 67.0 ± 2.1 to 72.6 ± 2.1 ◦C) has been observed. These results show a clear impact of running an ultramarathon on the participant’s blood serum

The effect of medium-term sauna-based heat acclimation (MPHA) on thermophysiological and plasma volume responses to exercise performed under temperate conditionsin elite cross-country skiers

The influence of a series of ten sauna baths (MPHA) on thermophysiological and selected hematological responses in 14 elite cross-country skiers to a submaximal endurance exercise test performed under thermoneutral environmental conditions was studied. Thermal and physiological variables were measured before and after the exercise test, whereas selected hematological indices were studied before, immediately after, and during recovery after a run, before (T1) and after sauna baths (T2). MPHA did not influence the baseline internal, body, and skin temperatures. There was a decrease in the resting heart rate (HR: p = 0.001) and physiological strain (PSI: p = 0.052) after MPHA and a significant effect of MPHA on systolic blood pressure (p = 0.03), hematological indices, and an exercise effect but no combined effect of treatments and exercise on the tested variables. A positive correlation was reported between PSI and total protein (%DTP) in T2 and a negative between plasma volume (%DPV) and mean red cellular volume (%DMCV) in T1 and T2 in response to exercise and a positive one during recovery. This may suggest that MPHA has a weak influence on body temperatures but causes a moderate decrease in PSI and modifications of plasma volume restoration in response to exercise under temperate conditions in elite athletes