Early markers of endothelial dysfunction in young professional athletes

Pushkina Ya. A., Goncharova L. N., Sergutova N. P., Levashova O. A., Ashirova N. A., Golusheva O. I.

ABSTRACT

Objective. To identify early markers of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in professional athletes depending on risk factors (RF) and genetic polymorphisms.

Materials and methods. The study included 78 athletes aged from 18 to 45 years old involved in various professional sports: athletics, soccer, volleyball, boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, mixed martial arts. The analysis of physical activity was based on the Mitchell’s sports classification (2005). The anonymous survey was performed to assess the presence of the main cardiovascular (CV) RF. All study participants, along with a physical examination, underwent blood pressure (BP) assessment and volumetric sphygmography. The association between gene polymorphisms (ACE, ADD1, AGT, AGTR1, AGTR2, CYP11B2, GNB3, NOS3), arterial wall parameters and CV RF was studied.

Results. Elevated BP was registered in 25 athletes (32.1%) with average systolic blood pressure (SBP)— 146.3±4.3 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP)— 83.8±7.43 mmHg. At the same time, differences in BP between various types of sports were not statistically significant (χ2 =1.67, df=1, p=0.196). The level of SBP was associated with pulse wave velocity (PWV) (r=0.463, p<0.05), the risk of ED development correlated with SBP level, expressed through PWV (χ2 =19.940, p<0.001; OR=44.6, 95% CI: 5.0–392.8).

Conclusion. Professional athletes with the presence of RF (grade 1 and stage I arterial hypertension) showed increased PWV values that reflected ED, which can indicate the presence of early-stage vascular remodeling, in case when the influence of genetic polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system was excluded.

Keywords: endothelial dysfunction, risk factors, physical activity

For citation:

Pushkina Ya. A., Goncharova L. N., Sergutova N. P., Levashova O. A., Ashirova N. A., Golusheva O. I. Early markers of endothelial dysfunction in young professional athletes. International Heart and Vascular Disease Journal. 2022. 10 (34): 18-25. DOI 10.24412/2311-1623-2022-34-23-32