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The article reports on research which investigated the effects playing time, positional role and phase of the season had on the biomarkers testosterone and cortisol in 20 professional male basketball players. They found that players who played between 13 and 25 minutes per game showed the highest levels of testosterone and cortisol, that players showed the most catabolic or stressed hormonal state in March and April and that is necessary to take into account playing time and position when evaluating biomarkers.

Unlabelled: Several studies have assessed the effect of the physical activity on plasma homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations, although the findings have been contradictory, and the exact mechanism by which plasma Hcy concentrations varied after an acute intense exercise remains unknown., Purpose: We studied the effect of different acute aerobic intense exercises on plasma, reduced, and total Hcy (rHcy, tHcy) and cysteine (rCys, tCys) and on its metabolically related vitamins and amino acids. Parallel effects on renal function were assessed by plasma creatinine., Methods: Fifteen cyclists and 14 kayakers were examined before and 30 +/- 5 min after a specific test to exhaustion during a low-intensity training period., Results: After a bout of specific exercise, the concentrations of aminothiols were increased regardless of the group considered. Plasma concentrations were higher than baseline values in tHcy (17.7 +/- 1.5%; P < 0.001), rHcy (10.6 +/- 1.6%; P < 0.001), tCys (9.9 +/- 1.6%; P < 0.001), and rCys (7.6 +/- 2.2%; P < 0.01). Both groups showed significant elevations of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP; P < 0.01), vitamin B12 (P < 0.001), and creatinine concentrations (P < 0.001) after acute exercises, but no changes were seen in folate. Changes in plasma aminothiols after exercise did not reach significant correlation with changes in free amino acids or baseline vitamins, but significant and positive correlations were observed with changes in plasma PLP, vitamin B12, and creatinine concentrations, when the pooled data were considered., Conclusions: Our results show that higher plasma concentrations of tHcy after an acute intense exercise are associated to higher concentrations of rHcy, and this effect is independent of the type of exercise, vitamin status, or amino acid metabolic stress but could be related to potential changes in the renal function.

Purpose: To determine the change in muscular efficiency in world-class professional cyclists during years of training/competition., Methods: Twelve male world-class professional road cyclists (mean +/- SD: age = 22.6 +/- 3.8 yr and VO(2max) = 75.5 +/- 3.3 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) performed an incremental test (starting at 100 W with workload increases of 50 W every 4-min interval until volitional exhaustion) before and after a five-season period. Delta efficiency (DE) was calculated from 100 W to that power output (PO) in which the RER was 1., Results: DE increased (P < 0.01) from 23.61 +/- 2.78% to 26.97 +/- 3.7% from the first to the fifth year, whereas VO(2max) showed no significant increase. A significant inverse correlation (r = -0.620; P = 0.032) between DE and VO(2max) (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) was found in the fifth year, whereas no significant correlation between these variables was found in the first year. A significant inverse correlation (r = -0.63; P = 0.029) was found between the increase percentage in DE (DeltaDE) and VO(2max) (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) in the fifth year, whereas no significant correlation was found between these variables in the first year., Conclusion: The results show an increase in DE in world-class professional cyclists during a five-season training/competition period, without significant variations in VO(2max). The results also suggest that the increase in DE could be a possible way for performance compensation, especially in those subjects with lower VO(2max).

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine a noninvasive method of evaluating external iliac endofibrosis in cyclists., Methods: Eighteen highly trained male cyclists were divided into two groups: a pathology group (PG; 3 professional and 4 elite) and a control group (CG; 6 professional and 5 elite). Mean age was 26 +/- 6.1 yr for the PG and 24 +/- 4.09 for the CG. We studied humeral and tibial posterior pressure by using Doppler ultrasound and the ankle to arm index (AAI) before and after an incremental exercise test, performed on bike-ergometer until exhaustion. A Wilcoxon test was used to compare pressures and AAI in the PG. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the PG with the CG. Fisher discriminant analysis was done to obtain a classification of the legs in ill or normal legs., Results: The minimal AAI achieved in the PG was 0.76 +/- 0.13 for the normal leg (NL) and 0.35 +/- 0.04 for the ill leg (IL). We found significant differences (P < 0.01) from the 1st to 4th minute after exercise between the NL and the IL in the PG, and from the 1st to 10th minute after exercise between the IL and CG. We found significant differences in leg pressures between NL and IL in PG from the 1st to 4th minute (P < 0.01), and from the 1st to the 10th minute after exercise between CG and IL in the PG. Through discriminant analysis, we obtained a classification of the legs as ill or normal by applying a mathematical function at each recovery time studied., Conclusions: AAI and leg pressures response to maximal exercise is a valid and noninvasive method for the evaluation of external iliac endofibrosis.