Tolga Saka

Rigorous Bicycling Does Not Increase Serum Levels of Total and Free Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA), the Free/Total PSA Ratio, Gonadotropin Levels, or Uroflowmetric Parameters

OBJECTIVES To determine whether cycling has an effect on serum PSA, gonadotropins, and uroflowmetric parameters. METHODS A total of 34 healthy male athletes from the National Cycling Team and 24 healthy male student volunteers from University and medical staff were prospectively enrolled in the study. Blood samples for serum total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA, fPSA/tPSA, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone determinations were obtained before and after cyclists completed 300 km bicycle ride and with each cyclist seated without changing posture and with minimal movement for 10 minutes before blood collection. The cyclists also performed uroflowmetric and postvoid residual urine volume analysis before, and 1 hour after cycling course. Blood samples from the control group were drawn for serum hormones. They also underwent uroflowmetric and postvoid residual analysis. RESULTS The athletes and the control group were well matched by age. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of serum tPSA, fPSA, f/t PSA values, FSH, LH, and testosterone levels and uroflowmetric parameters (P >.05). The differences between pre- and postcycling values for tPSA, fPSA, f/t PSA, FSH, LH, and uroflowmetric parameters were not statistically significant. The postcycling serum testosterone level was significantly lower than precycling levels (mean, 603.6 ng/dL [range, 300-949] vs 424.8 ng/dL [range, 193-723], P = .001]. There was no correlation between body mass index values, postcycling serum FSH, LH levels, age, and testosterone levels. CONCLUSIONS There is no effect of professional bicycle riding on serum total and fPSA levels and uroflowmetric parameters.

Improved arterial stiffness in mitral stenosis after successful percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty

BACKGROUND Rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) is still a common disease in developing countries with high morbidity and mortality rates. The purpose of the study was to evaluate arterial stiffness in severe MS before and after percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV). METHODS Thirty patients with MS in sinus rhythm requiring PMBV and 20 age-gender matched healthy volunteers. The analyze of pulse wave velocities (PWV) were performed using of the carotid artery at the femoral by PWV technique on patients at baseline and a week after PMBV. RESULTS The values of PWV were significantly decreased after successful PMBW in MS patients. Mitral mean gradients and systolic pulmonary artery pressures (sPAP) both on echocardiography and catheterization also had a significant decrease after PMBW. The mitral valve areas were significantly increased after PMBW. There was a highly significant negative correlation between mitral valve areas and PWV values. A highly significant positive correlation was seen between mitral mean gradient on catheterization and PWV (r = 0.830, p 〈 0.001). There was also a significant correlation between sPAP on catheterization and PWV values (r = 0.639, p 〈 0.001). Echocardiographic mitral mean gradients and PWV were highly positive correlated with each other (r = 0.841, p 〈 0.001). The sPAP on echocardiography had also a highly positive correlation with PWV (r = 0.681, p 〈 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Mitral stenosis is a cause of impaired arterial stiffness and after the enlargened mitral valve area arterial stiffness improved in patients with MS.

P-16 Arterial stiffness differences between aerobically and resistance trained turkish elite athletes

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether arterial stiffness was different in aerobically trained elite athletes than in anaerobic/resistance trained elite athletes. The cohort comprised 36 healthy male volunteers, aged 17 to 32 years. All subjects were basketball players (n = 10), weight lifters (n = 11) or sedentary controls (n = 15). Methods The Pulse Trace System (Micro Medical Ltd., Rochester, UK) was used to record central and peripheral arterial stiffness. Echocardiographic images were taken by the use of a commercially available machine (Vivid 7 GE-Vingmed, Horten, Norway) with a 2.5 MHz transducer. Results Aortic elastic properties derived from echocardiographic measurements did not differ between the groups (p > 0.05). Pulse wave velocity measurements reflected significantly lower values both in the basketball players and weight lifters compared to controls (p < 0.001–0.05). No significant differences were found between the basketball players and weight lifters (p > 0.05). Conclusions Many studies found increased central arterial stiffness in athletes performing chronic resistance exercise when compared to aerobic exercise (Miyachi et al. 2004; Cortez-Cooper et al. 2005; Kawano et al. 2006). Our study did not show any increased arterial stiffness in weightlifters. On the contrary, we found reduced stiffness. The reduction was not statistically significant and it was lower compared to basketball players. The aortic stiffness index of weightlifters was the same as sedentary controls unlike basketball players. These results show that arterial stiffness may be affected independently from cardiac parameters as reported in literature. Moreover, this may be caused by aerobic exercise that is part of the training programme of weightlifters. Different from the existing knowledge, arterial stiffness of athletes that perform more resistance exercise such as weightlifters, improved significantly. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Erciyes University Scientific Research Project unit for their financial support for this study (TSA-08-467). References Miyachi M, Kawano H, Sugawara J, Takahashi K, Hayashi K, Yamazaki K, Tabata I, Tanaka H2004. Unfavourable effects of resistance training on central arterial compliance: a randomised intervention study. Circulation, 110:2858–63. Cortez-Cooper MY, DeVan AE, Anton MM, Farrar RP, Beckwith KA, Todd JS, Tanaka H2005. Effects of high intensity resistance training on arterial stiffness and wave reflection in women. Am J Hypertens, 18(7):930–4. Kawano H, Tanaka H, Miyachi M2006. Resistance training and arterial compliance: keeping the benefits while minimising the stiffening. Journal of Hypertension, 24(9):1753–9.

The effect of prophylactic migraine treatment on arterial stiffness.

Abstract Background. Migraine is a common type of primary headache predominantly seen in women. This study aimed to evaluate endothelial function in patients with migraine using pulse wave velocity (PWV). Methods. The study included 73 patients with newly diagnosed migraine and 80 healthy subjects. All patients and controls underwent baseline transthoracic echocardiography and PWV measurements. Patients were randomized to three groups to receive propranolol, flunarizine or topiramate, and the measurements were repeated at the end of 1 month. Results. The newly diagnosed migraine patients and the control group exhibited no differences in baseline clinical characteristics, and the measurements showed that PWV was 7.4 ± 1.0 m/s in the patient group and 6.0 ± 1.0 m/s in the control group (p < 0.001). The same measurements were repeated during a control visit at the end of 1 month. Following treatment, a significant decrease was observed in PWV in all patient groups compared to baseline (p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed significantly decreased PWV in all drug groups, with the most prominent decrease in the topiramate group. Conclusions. The increased PWV demonstrated in migraine patients in this study stands out as an additional parameter elucidating endothelial dysfunction in these patients. Decreasing the number of migraine attacks with prophylactic treatment may reduce PWV and decrease cardiovascular risk in long-term follow-up.

Arterial Stiffness Differences between Aerobically and Resistance Trained Turkish Elite Athletes

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether arterial stiffness was different in aerobicallytrained elite athletes than in anaerobically or resistance trained elite athletes. The cohort comprised 36 healthymale volunteers, aged between 17 and 32 years. All subjects were basketball players (n=10), weightlifters (n=11) orsedentary controls (n=15). The Pulse Trace System (Micro Medical Ltd., Rochester, UK) was employed to recordcentral and peripheral arterial stiffness. Echocardiographic images were taken by the use of a commerciallyavailable machine (Vivid 7 GE-Vingmed, Horten, Norway) with a 2.5 MHz transducer. Aortic elastic propertiesderived from echocardiographic measurements did not differ between the groups (p<0.05). Pulse wave velocitymeasurements reflected significantly lower values in both the basketball players and weightlifters compared tocontrols (p<0.001-0.05). No significant difference was seen between the basketball players and weightlifters(p<0.05). Contrary to existing knowledge, arterial stiffness of athletes that perform more resistance exercise suchas weightlifters improved significantly and did not get worse. This result implies that in the long-term arterialstiffness improves with sports activities that are predominantly comprised of resistance exercises despite increasedarterial stiffness in the acute phase.

Effects of Regular Moderate Exercise on Arterial Stiffness and PTX3 Protein and Some Cardiac Parameters

Abstract This study intends to show some of the effects of long-term and regular moderate exercise on arterial stiffness, Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) levels and some cardiac parameters in individuals of middle and advanced age. Twenty mountaineers and twenty sedentary individuals were subjects of this study. Each mountaineer and the individuals in the control group were measured for lipid profile, complete blood count, and underwent echocardiography, and exercise stress test. Central and peripheral pulse wave velocity was measured. The plasma Pentraxin 3 protein was assayed. Metabolic equivalent and PTX3 levels were found to be significantly higher in mountaineers, compared to the sedentary group. Femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, left ventricular end-systolic diameter and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were found to be significantly lower in mountaineers, compared to the sedentary group (p<0.05). Long-term and regular, moderate exercise significantly decreases indicators of systemic inflammation and arterial stiffness.