Short- and long-term effects of endurance training in patients with mitochondrial myopathy.
OBJECTIVE
It is unknown whether prolonged training is a safe treatment to alleviate exercise intolerance in patients with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations.


METHODS
The effect of 3 and 12 months training and 3-12 months deconditioning was studied in four patients carrying different mtDNA mutations.


RESULTS
Three-month moderate-intensity training increased oxidative capacity by 23%, which was sustained after 6-12 months of low-intensity training. Training and deconditioning did not induce adverse effects on clinical symptoms, muscle morphology and mtDNA mutation load in muscle.


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term training effectively improves exercise capacity in patients with mitochondrial myopathy, and appears to be safe.
Jeppesen
T D
TD
Neuromuscular Research Unit, Department of Neurology, and the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark. dysgaard@rh.dk
Dunø
M
M
Schwartz
M
M
Krag
T
T
Rafiq
J
J
Wibrand
F
F
Vissing
J
J
D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017240:Mitochondrial Myopathies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013995:Time