title: Endurance-training in healthy men is associated with lesser exertional breathlessness that correlates with circulatory-muscular conditioning markers in a cross-sectional design.
abstract: Whether exertional dyspnoea can be attributed to poor circulatory-muscular conditioning is a difficult clinical issue. Because criteria of poor conditioning such as low oxygen pulse, low ventilatory threshold or high heart rate/oxygen consumption slope can be observed in heart or lung diseases and are not specific to conditioning, we assessed the relationships between physical exercise, conditioning and exertional breathlessness in healthy subjects, in whom the aforementioned criteria can confidently be interpreted as reflecting conditioning. To this end, healthy males with either low (inactive men, n = 31) or high (endurance-trained men, n = 31) physical activity evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) underwent spirometry and incremental exercise testing with breathlessness assessment using Borg scale. No significant breathlessness was reported before the ventilatory threshold in the two groups. Peak breathlessness was highly variable, did not differ between the two groups, was not related to any conditioning criterion, but correlated with peak respiratory rate. Nevertheless, endurance-trained subjects reported lower breathlessness at the same ventilation levels in comparison with inactive subjects. Significant but weak associations were observed between isoventilation breathlessness and physical activity indices (Borg at 60 L/min and total IPAQ scores, rho = -0.31, p = 0.020), which were mainly attributable to the vigorous domain of physical activity, as well as with conditioning indices (Borg score at 60 L.min(-1) and peak oxygen pulse or heart rate/oxygen consumption slope, rho = -0.31, p = 0.021 and rho = 0.31, p = 0.020; respectively). In conclusion, our data support a weak relationship between exertional breathlessness and circulatory-muscular conditioning, the later being primarily related to vigorous physical activity.
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Respiratoire - Clinique de la Dyspnée, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20, rue Leblanc, Paris, 75015 France ; Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de médecine, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75006 France ; Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, Service de Physiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Paris, France, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France, INSERM UMR700, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Plantier
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Respiratoire - Clinique de la Dyspnée, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20, rue Leblanc, Paris, 75015 France.
authors.forename: Ghanima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Al Dandachi
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Respiratoire - Clinique de la Dyspnée, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20, rue Leblanc, Paris, 75015 France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Londner
authors.affiliation: AP-HP, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, Unité d'Épidémiologie et de Recherche Clinique, Paris, 75015 France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caumont-Prim
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Respiratoire - Clinique de la Dyspnée, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20, rue Leblanc, Paris, 75015 France ; AP-HP, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, Unité d'Épidémiologie et de Recherche Clinique, Paris, 75015 France.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chevalier-Bidaud
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche bioMédicale et d'Epidémiologie du Sport, INSEP, Paris, France ; Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de médecine, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75006 France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Toussaint
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche bioMédicale et d'Epidémiologie du Sport, INSEP, Paris, France ; Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de médecine, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75006 France.
authors.forename: François-Denis
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Desgorces
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Respiratoire - Clinique de la Dyspnée, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20, rue Leblanc, Paris, 75015 France ; Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de médecine, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75006 France ; Sorbonne Paris Cité, EA2511, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75014 France ; CIC 9201 Plurithématique, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, 75015 France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delclaux
keywords: Cardiopulmonary exercise test; Dyspnoea; Exercise; Healthy man; Muscular conditioning; Physical activity