Comparison of effect of acute endurance and resistance training at different intensity on the levels of cardiac Troponin T and tumor necrosis factor alpha levels in trained men

The acute exercise leads to the induction of some cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers that are related to factors such as severity, type, training experience, gender and environment. This study was conducted to compare the effect of acute endurance and resistance training at two different intensity levels of high-sensitivity cardiac Troponin T (hs-cTnT) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in male runners and bodybuilders.

In this quasi-experimental study, 20 male runners and bodybuilders with an age range of 20-24 years were purposefully and accessibly selected. The study was performed with a pre-test-post-test design on 10 male runners (endurance training) and 10 bodybuilding men (resistance training). The runners ran 6 km with moderate (70-75% of reserve heart rate) and high (85-85% of reserve heart rate) intensities at intervals of one week, during separate sessions. Bodybuilders also performed resistance training at moderate (70-75% of one repetition maximum) and high (80-85% of one repetition maximum) intensities.  Bodybuilders also performed resistance training at moderate (70 to 75% of a maximum repetition) and high (80 to 85% of a maximum repetition) intensities. Blood samples were taken before and immediately after exercise. Then the serum levels of hs-cTnT and TNF-α were measured.

The serum level of hs-cTnT and TNF-α was significantly increased after acute running and resistance training with moderate and high intensities (P˂0.05), but intense acute exercise had a greater effect on increasing the levels of these variables. Also, the acute effect of intense aerobic exercise was associated with a greater increase in hs-cTnT level in compared to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, high and moderate-intensity resistance training (P˂0.05).

In endurance and resistance athletes, the hs-cTnT and TNF-α responses are affected by the intensity of training and increase more with intense training. But the high intensity aerobic exercise is associated with a greater increase in hs-cTnT levels.