Inflammatory response to a marathon run in amateur athletes

Background: While moderate physical exercise has positive effects on the cardiovascular system, the data regarding intensive endurance sports is biased with studies suggesting that the inflammatory response to strenuous exercise may act proarrhythmogenic. In amateurs, the effects of intensive endurance exercise on the cardiovascular system have not been studied. Analysis of the effects of a marathon on the kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers may bring new insights into this issue. Material and methods: We studied the effect of a marathon on the kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers: Endothelin-1 (ET-1), Pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), Neopterin and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the population of 35 amateur male marathoners. The study was divided into 3 stages: two weeks prior to the marathon (S1), at the finish line (S2) and two weeks after (S3). Blood analyses for biomarkers were performed at each stage. Results: The concentrations of ET-1 (3.20 ± 0.90 vs. 1.30 ±0.34 pg/ml, p <0,001), PTX-3 (441.09 ± 295.64 vs. 279.99 ± 125.68 pg/ml, p < 0,001), Neopterin (9.97 ± 2.17 vs. 8.36 ± 2.68 nmol/l, p < 0,05) and IL-6 (32.5 ± 13.90 vs. 0.97 ± 0.77 pg/ml, p < 0,001) were significantly higher at S2 compared to S1. Conclusions: Running a marathon causes an acute rise in concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers. Further research is needed on the long-term effects of intensive endurance exercise on the cardiovascular system.