Comparison of the Heart Function Adaptation in Trained and Sedentary Men After 50 and Before 35 Years of Age

The effects of aging and of sustained athletic activity on the heart in men aged >50 years are unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the adaptation of the heart in athletic and sedentary men aged <35 and ≥50 years. Echocardiograms recorded at rest and during submaximal exercise were analyzed in 59 athletic seniors (SATH group) and 16 sedentary seniors (SSED group) (age ≥50 years) and in 18 athletic youth (YATH group) and 27 sedentary youth (YSED group) (age <35 years). All subjects were healthy. The reproducibility of measurements was examined, and the echocardiographic characteristics were compared among the study groups. No differences were found in baseline characteristics between the YATH and YSED groups and between the SATH and SSED groups, except for their exercise routines, consisting of >8 hours of bicycling per week in the athletic groups. Left ventricular mass was greater in the YATH than in the SATH group (p <0.01) and greater in the SATH than in the SSED group (p <0.001). Likewise, left ventricular volumes were greater in the athletic than in the sedentary groups (p <0.05), although they were smaller in the seniors than in youth (p <0.01). Left ventricular stroke volume was greater in the athletic than in the sedentary groups (p <0.001); global longitudinal strain during exercise was −20.0 ± 2.4% in the SATH group and −22.1 ± 2.1% in the YATH group, compared to −19.2 ± 3.4% in the SSED group and −20.2 ± 2.4% in the YSED group (p <0.05, athletic vs sedentary). The e′ velocities recorded at the septal and lateral mitral annulus were higher at rest and during exercise (p <0.01) in the youth than in the senior groups. In conclusion, systolic and diastolic myocardial adaptation to regular exercise was significantly more prominent in young than in senior volunteers.