Effects of treadmill exercise on peripheral blood cells and heart functions in young males

AIM To study the effects of treadmill exercise on peripheral blood cells and cardiac function in young males. METHODS Twenty-one healthy young men were screened. A treadmill exercise test was performed with Bruce protocol. The secondary target heart rate (220-age)×90% was used as the endpoint. Routine blood tests and echocardiography were performed 1 hour before and immediately after the exercise. RESULTS Left ventricular systolic function parameters increased immediately after exercise:EF(65±4)% vs.(59±6)%, P<0.01, and FS(33.1±3.4)% vs.(29.1±2.7)%, P<0.01. There were no significant changes in stroke volume (SV). The left ventricular diastolic function (E/A, PVS/PVD) after exercise was slightly lower than that before exercise(1.0±0.2) vs.(1.5±0.3), P<0.01, (1.2±0.1) vs.(1.7±0.4), P<0.01. Immediately after exercise, the interventricular septum (IVS) and inferior wall showed an increase in tissue movement during systole and diastoleIVS (0.15±0.03) m/s vs.(0.12±0.02) m/s, P<0.05, (0.17±0.04) m/s vs.(0.13±0.02) m/s, P<0.01; inferior wall (0.13±0.03) m/s vs.(0.12±0.02) m/s, P<0.01, (0.22±0.12) m/s vs.(0.15±0.03) m/s, P<0.01, while the lateral wall increased slightly during diastole(0.19±0.05) m/s vs.(0.15±0.02) m/s, P<0.01. The atrial systolic function (A peak and PVA/PVA-t) slightly increased after exercise(0.7±0.1) m/s vs.(0.6±0.1) m/s, P<0.01, (0.3 ±0.08) vs.(0.3±0.04), P<0.01. The lymphocytes increased mildly and neutrophil granulocytes decreased slightly at the end of exercise(0.43±0.09)10⁹/L vs.(0.35±0.10) 10⁹/L, P<0.01; (0.50±0.09) 10⁹/L vs.(0.57±0.10) 10⁹/L, P<0.01. The mean platelet volume, platelets count and platelet increased(10.7±0.6) fl vs.(10.6±0.7) fl, P<0.05; (234.3±42.9) 10⁹/L vs.(214±47) 10⁹/L, P<0.01; (0.25±0.04) fl vs.(0.22±0.04) fl, P<0.01. The volume of erythrocytes slightly increased(90.3±2.7) fl vs.(89.8±2.5) fl, P<0.05. CONCLUSION Acute exercise can cause compensatory increases of cardiac systolic function. The wall movement was mainly increased in the inferior wall. After exercise, mean erythrocytes volume was increased compensatorily. Additionally, lymphocytes and platelets were increased, which may be associated with secondary cardiovascular events.