Open AccessAthletes with Exercise-Associated Fatigue Have Abnormally Short Muscle DNA Telomeres
Author(s) -
Malcolm Collins,
Valérie Renault,
Liesl Grobler,
Alan St Clair Gibson,
Mike Lambert,
E W Derman,
Gillian Butler-Browne,
Timothy D. Noakes,
Vincent Mouly
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
medicine and science in sports and exercise
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1530-0315
pISSN - 0195-9131
DOI - 10.1249/01.mss.0000084522.14168.49
Subject(s) - athletes , telomere , medicine , asymptomatic , skeletal muscle , physical therapy , cardiology , biology , dna , genetics
Although the beneficial health effects of regular moderate exercise are well established, there is substantial evidence that the heavy training and racing carried out by endurance athletes can cause skeletal muscle damage. This damage is repaired by satellite cells that can undergo a finite number of cell divisions. In this study, we have compared a marker of skeletal muscle regeneration of athletes with exercise-associated chronic fatigue, a condition labeled the "fatigued athlete myopathic syndrome" (FAMS), with healthy asymptomatic age- and mileage-matched control endurance athletes.