Examination of Exercise-Induced Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle Damage in Terms of Smoking

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of acute endurance exercise on cardiac and skeletal muscles in smokers and non-smokers. Eight daily smokers (28.44 ± 3.94 years) and nine non-smokers (29.62 ± 3.46 years) were included. The subjects were not trained and performed continuous endurance exercise on a treadmill for 40 minutes at 70% of maximal heart rate. Venous blood samples were collected at baseline [preexercise (PRE)], at immediately after the exercise [post-exercise (POST)], at 2 hours after the exercise (2h), at 24 hours after the exercise (24h) to measure lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase(CK), creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), cardiac troponin T (TN-T), and myoglobin levels. A progressive increase was observed in all exercise-induced muscle damage parameters of the smoker and non-smoker from PRE to 2h. CK, myoglobin and T-NT levels of smokers were significantly higher than non-smokers at 24h (p=0.039, p=0.018 p=0.008, respectively). No significant difference was found between the smoking and non-smoking groups at all time points regarding CK-MB and LDH levels (p>0.05). Acute endurance exercise leads to more skeletal and myocardial damage in smokers compared to non-smokers. Smoking may increase the risk of cardiovascular events during both exercise and daily physical activity.