Table 5.
– Physical exercise modality and neopterin levels.
| Physical exercise type | Intervention/training protocol | Biological sample | Method of analysis | Levels | Effect on neopterin levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodents | |||||
| Moderate running in a treadmill [143] | 5 session/week for 3 weeks (30, 40 and 50 min/day), no inclination | Urine | HPLC | ~12 μmol/mol creatinine | Reduction of exacerbated levels under inflammation |
| Humans | |||||
| Barcelona Olympic Games [157] | 17-day period of training at altitude (2030 m) followed by a 10-day period of heat acclimatization (mean daily maximum ambient temperature 27 °C). The following week, the athletes performed the Olympic competition. The average training time was approximated to 3 h/day | Urine | HPLC | ~219 μmol/mol creatinine | Increased from pre-training on day 19 of training |
| Ultra-endurance cycling athletes Race Across America [158] | 4763 km from San Diego to Atlantic City | Urine | HPLC | ~290 μmol/mol creatinine | Increased on day two to four of the race |
| Rugby players [39] | Rugby game | Urine | HPLC | ~4000 nmol/SG1.020 | Increased post-game |
| Semi-professional rugby players [159] | Rugby game | Urine | HPLC | ~10,000 nmol/SG1.020 | Increased post-game |
| Ultra-endurance athletes MultiSport race [40] | 28.5 km of trail running, 42.5 km mountain biking and 17.5 km kayaking | Plasma | HPLC | ~18 nmol/L | Increased after race |
| Body builders [156] | Each subject would train 1 to 2 body parts per day, 3–6 exercises per body part, 3–6 sets per exercise and 8–12 repetitions/set | Urine | HPLC | ~200 μmol/mol creatinine or ~3000 nmol/SG1.020 | No changes over the week |
| Ultra-marathon runners [154] | 330 km, altitude difference of 24,000 m (3 times the Everest), 25 mountain passes above 2000 m sea level | Urine | HPLC | ~300 μmol/mol creatinine | Increased after race |
| Exhaustive aerobic physical exercise [144] | Cycle ergometer physical exercise started at a workload of 50/75 W (women/men) for 5 min (warm up) with an increase in workload of 25 W/min until exhaustion. After a 20 min resting period, athletes with a maximal aerobic capacity performed a 20-min maximal time-trial | Serum | ELISA | ~11 nmol/L | Increased post physical exercise |
| Mixed martial arts [155] | 3 rounds of 5 min in a simulated contest with 1 min between rounds. Each subject competed against several opponents throughout 15 min session. Each participant was subsequently involved in the other subject's “rounds” resulting in a combined time totaling 90 min of physical exercise | Urine | HPLC | ~8000 nmol/SG1.020 | Increased post-session |
SG1.020 = Specific gravity (SG) corrected concentration; HPLC = high performance liquid chromatography.