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Possible thermoregulatory contributions of plasma B-endorphin during prolonged exercise in humans

Six adult male volunteers of similar body composition and physical fitness were tested to determine plasma immunoreactive β-endorphin (Piβ-EN) response under three conditions of exercise thermoregulatory stress. The experimental protocol consisted of 120 min of stationary upright cycling at 50% Vo₂max under conditions of neutral (24ºC, 50% RH)/euhydration (NE), hot (35°C, 50% RH)/euhydration (HE), and hot/dehydration (HD). Piβ-EN was measured by radioimmunoassay at -30 min, 0 min, and at 15 min intervals thereafter. Change in plasma volume (ΔPV) was measured to determine its effect on Piβ-EN concentration. Preexercise Piβ-EN levels averaged 23.7 ± 2.6 pg•ml⁻¹ in all conditions. The greatest Piβ-EN response occurred at 105 min in HD conditions when levels rose to 43.2 ± 6.9 pg•ml⁻¹. Exercise in HD and HE conditions resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) elevated Piβ-EN above levels observed in NE. ΔPV did not account for more than 10% of Piβ-EN changes at any interval. The Piβ-EN response pattern closely resembled rectal temperature changes in all conditions.

These data suggest that conditions of increasing exercise thermoregulatory stress are associated with increasing peripheral β-endorphin concentration. / Master of Science

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76020
Date January 1983
CreatorsKelso, Thomas Benton
ContributorsEducation
PublisherVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Text
Formatx, 141 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
RelationOCLC# 10748524

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