Exercise-related hemoconcentration and hemodilution in hydrated and dehydrated athletes: An observational study of the Hungarian canoeists

Zsolt Komka; Brigitta Szilágyi; Dóra Molnár; Bence Sipos; Miklós Tóth; Balázs Sonkodi; Pongrác Ács; János Elek; Máté Szász

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0277978

Exercise-related hemoconcentration and hemodilution in hydrated and dehydrated athletes: An observational study of the Hungarian canoeists

PLoS One. 2022 Dec 30;17(12):e0277978. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277978. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zsolt Komka^{1

2

3}, Brigitta Szilágyi^{4

5}, Dóra Molnár³, Bence Sipos⁶, Miklós Tóth^{1

7

8

9}, Balázs Sonkodi¹, Pongrác Ács^{7

9}, János Elek¹⁰, Máté Szász¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Sciences and Sports Medicine, Hungarian University of Sports Science, Budapest, Hungary.
² Heart and Vascular Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
³ Hungarian Canoe Federation, Budapest, Hungary.
⁴ Institute of Mathematics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary.
⁵ Institute of Mathematics and Statistical Modelling, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary.
⁶ Faculty of Natural Sciences Department of Geometry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary.
⁷ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
⁸ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁹ Szentágothai Research Center, Pécs, Hungary.
¹⁰ Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
¹¹ Synlab Hungary Ltd., Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

Hemoconcentration during exercise is a well-known phenomenon, however, the extent to which dehydration is involved is unclear. In our study, the effect of dehydration on exercise-induced hemoconcentration was examined in 12 elite Hungarian kayak-canoe athletes. The changes of blood markers were examined during acute maximal workload in hydrated and dehydrated states. Dehydration was achieved by exercise, during a 120-minute extensive-aerobic preload. Our research is one of the first studies in which the changes in blood components were examined with a higher time resolution and a wider range of the measured parameters. Hydration status had no effect on the dynamics of hemoconcentration during both the hydrated (HS) and dehydrated (DHS) load, although lower maximal power output were measured after the 120-minute preload [HS Hemoglobin(Hgb)Max median 17.4 (q1 17.03; q3 17.9) g/dl vs. DHS HgbMax median 16.9 (q1 16.43; q3 17.6) g/dl (n.s); HS Hematocrit(Hct)Max 53.50 (q1 52.28; q3 54.8) % vs. DHS HctMax 51.90 (q1 50.35; q3 53.93) % (n.s)]. Thirty minutes after the maximal loading, complete hemodilution was confirmed in both exercises. Dehydration had no effect on hemoconcentration or hemodilution in the recovery period [HS HgbR30' 15.7 (q1 15.15; q3 16.05) g/dl (n.s.) vs. DHS HgbR30' 15.75 (q1 15.48; q3 16.13) g/dl (n.s.), HS HctR30' 48.15 (q1 46.5; q3 49.2) % vs. DHS HctR30' 48.25 (q1 47.48; q3 49.45) % (n.s.)], however, plasma osmolality did not follow a corresponding decrease in hemoglobin and hematocrit in the dehydrated group. Based on our data, metabolic products (glucose, lactate, sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate ion, blood urea nitrogen) induced osmolality may not play a major role in the regulation of hemoconcentration and post-exercise hemodilution. From our results, we can conclude that hemoconcentration depends mainly on the intensity of the exercise.

Copyright: © 2022 Komka et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Observational Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Athletes
Dehydration*
Hemodilution* / methods
Hemoglobins
Humans
Hungary

Substances

Hemoglobins

Grants and funding

The research was financed by the Thematic Excellence Program 2021 Health Sub-programme of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology in Hungary, within the framework of the EGA-10 project of the Pécs of University. First Phase of Establishing the Science and Innovation Park Project at the University of Pécs (GINOP-2.3.1-20-2020-00007). Project no.TKP2021-EGA-37 has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-EGA funding scheme. This research was funded by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund of Hungary under Grant TKP2021-EGA-02. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.