Physical exercise increases liver stiffness in humans
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Background: Liver stiffness (LS) as measured by transient elastography is now widely used to non-invasively assess the degree of fibrosis in chronic liver disease. However, several other conditions also increase LS values irrespective of fibrosis such as cholestasis, congestion, inflammation, or an increase of arterial pressure.
Aims: To learn more about LS during exercise in humans, a condition known to increase arterial pressure and cardiac output.
Methods: 12 volunteers (all male, age 23 – 48 years) with normal laboratory testing and normal abdominal ultrasound underwent an exercise electrocardiogram for 10 minutes at 100 Watts and 10 minutes at 200 Watts. Blood pressure was measured every 2 minutes using an inflatable (Riva-Rocci) cuff placed around the upper arm. LS was measured by transient elastography (Fibroscan) using the M (depth 25 – 65 mm, frequency 3.5 MHz) probe (Echosens). TE was performed on the right lobe of the liver in intercostal position. Before every set of LS measurements under exercise, the position of the liver was reevaluated by ultrasound in order to minimize measurement errors.
Results: Mean basal LS in all volunteers with valid measurements in a sitting position (n = 11) was 4.4 ± 1.8 kPA which did not significantly differ from baseline LS in a lying position (4.1 ± 1.0 kPa). Ten minutes exercise at 100 W increased systolic pressure from 106 ± 8 to 135 ± 16 mmHg while heart rate increased from 79 ± 14 to 116 ± 20 bpm. Notably, LS increased significantly to 5.7 ± 1.4 kPa (p < 0.05). Further increase of exercise to 200 W led to an increase of LS to 6.7 ± 2.1 kPa as well as systolic pressure and heart rate (146 ± 16 mmHg and 148 ± 18 beats per minutes). After a recovery phase, blood pressure and heart rate returned to baseline values and LS also normalized (4.7 ± 0.9 kPa). This increase in LS correlated highly significantly with systolic pressure (r = 0.527) and heart rate (r = 0.495). Importantly, 36% of healthy volunteers surpassed the cut-off value for F2 fibrosis of 7.5 kPa during exercise.
Conclusion: Elevated cardiac output and arterial pressure during physical exercise suffice to increase LS in healthy volunteers.
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0036-1587303 -
Results from ergo-log on post-workout recovery:
https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7117181179885591:4103325817&ie=UTF-8&q=post+workout&sa=Search&ref=www.google.com/#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=post workout OR recoveryPrior carb-loading probably helps as well.
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Hmm, quite interesting, thanks for sharing.
