Cited by 580Cardiovascular and exercise physiologyHeart Failure Treatment and ManagementCardiac Health and Mental Health

Physical training in patients with stable chronic heart failure: Effects on cardiorespiratory fitness and ultrastructural abnormalities of leg muscles

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Hambrecht, Rainer, Niebauer, Josef, Fiehn, Eduard, Kälberer, Barbara, Offner, Bertram, Hauer, Klaus, Riede, Urs, Schlierf, Günter +2 more·1995·Journal of the American College of Cardiology

Abstract

Objectives The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of an ambulatory training program on ultrastructural morphology and the oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle and its relation to central and peripheral hemodynamic variables in patients with chronic heart failure.Background Clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that exercise intolerance in patients with chronic heart failure is not only a consequence of low cardiac output, but is also a result of alterations in oxidative metabolism of skeletal muscle.Methods Twenty-two patients were prospectively randomized either to a training group (mean [+/-SD] ejection fraction 26 +/- 9%, n = 12) participating in an ambulatory training program or to a physically inactive control group (ejection fraction 27 +/- 10%, n = 10). At baseline and after 6 months, patients underwent symptom-limited bicycle exercise testing, and central and peripheral hemodynamic variables were measured. Percutaneous needle biopsy samples of the vastus lateralis muscle were obtained at baseline and after 6 months. The ultrastructure of skeletal muscle was analyzed by ultrastructural morphometry.Results After 6 months, patients in the training group achieved an increase in oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold of 23% (from 0.86 +/- 0.2 to 1.07 +/- 0.2 liters/min, p < 0.01 vs. control group) and at peak exercise of 31% (from 1.49 +/- 0.4 to 1.95 +/- 0.4 liters/min, p < 0.01 vs. control group). There was no significant change in oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold and at peak exercise in the control group. The total volume density of mitochondria and volume density of cytochrome c oxidase-positive mitochondria increased significantly by 19% (from 4.7 +/- 1.5 to 5.6 +/- 1.5 vol%, p < 0.05 vs. control group) and by 41% (from 2.2 +/- 1.0 to 3.1 +/- 1.0 vol%, p < 0.05 vs. control group) after 6 months of regular physical exercise. Cardiac output at rest and at submaximal exercise remained unchanged but increased during maximal symptom-limited exercise from 11.9 +/- 4.0 to 14.1 +/- 3.3 liters/min in the training group (p < 0.05 vs. baseline; p = NS vs. control group). Peak leg oxygen consumption increased significantly by 45% (from 510 +/- 172 to 740 +/- 254 ml/min, p < 0.01 vs. control group). Changes in cytochrome c oxidase-positive mitochondria were significantly related to changes in oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold (r = 0.82, p < 0.0001) and at peak exercise (r = 0.87, p < 0.0001).Conclusions Regular physical training increases maximal exercise tolerance and delays anaerobic metabolism during submaximal exercise in patients with stable chronic heart failure. Improved functional capacity is closely linked to an exercise-induced increase in the oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle.

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  1. Weickcr H. Bestimung der freien und konjugierten Katecholamine mit HPLC unter amperometrischer Dctektion. Lab Med 1986;33:122 32.
  2. Forfar JC. Ncuroendocrine activation in chronic heart failure. Am J Cardiol 1991;67:3C 15C.

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Authors
Hambrecht, R., Niebauer, J., Fiehn, E., Kälberer, B., Offner, B., Hauer, K., Riede, U., Schlierf, G., Kübler, W., & Schuler, G.
Affiliations
  • St. Vincentius-Kliniken (DE)
  • Heidelberg University (DE)
  • University of Freiburg (DE)
Corresponding author
Hambrecht, Rainer
Venue
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1995-05
Volume
25
Issue
6
Pages
1239-1249
ISSN
0735-1097 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2064296725
Cited by
580
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 19
FWCI
54.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • FreiDok plus (Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Failure Treatment and Management
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
Keywords
chronic heart failure, exercise training, cardiorespiratory fitness, skeletal muscle ultrastructure, mitochondrial density, cytochrome c oxidase, oxidative metabolism, exercise intolerance, oxygen consumption, cardiac output, hemodynamics, vastus lateralis, exercise capacity, ejection fraction, exercise-induced cardiomyopathy, exercise-induced arrhythmia
MeSH terms
Biopsy, Catecholamines, Echocardiography, Energy Metabolism, Exercise Test, Exercise Therapy, Femoral Vein, Heart Failure, Hemodynamics, Humans, Leg, Male, Middle Aged, Mitochondria, Oxygen Consumption, Physical Education and Training, Prospective Studies, Regional Blood Flow, Exercise Tolerance, Muscle, Skeletal

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