Influence of physical training onerythrocyte concentrations of iron,phosphorus and magnesium

Abstract

Background:The present study aimed to determine changes occurring in the erythrocyte concentrations of Iron(Fe), Magnesium (Mg) and Phosphorous (P) of subjects with different levels of physical training living in the samearea of Extremadura (Spain).Methods:Thirty sedentary subjects (24.34 ± 3.02 years) without sports practice and a less active lifestyle, formed the controlgroup (CG); 24 non-professional subjects (23.53 ± 1.85 years), who perform between 4 and 6 h/week of moderate sportspractice without any performance objective and without following systematic training formed the group of subjects with amoderate level of training (MTG), and 22 professional cyclists (23.29 ± 2.73 years) at the beginning of their sports season, whoperformed more than 20 h/week of training, formed the high-level training group (HTG). Erythrocyte samples from allsubjects were collected and frozen at−80 °C until analysis. Erythrocyte analysis of Fe, Mg and P was performed byinductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). All results are expressed inμg/g Hb.Results:The results showed that there were statistically significant lower concentrations of erythrocyte Fe, Mg and P in MTGand HTG than CG. All parameters (Fe, Mg and Pconcentrations in erythrocytes) correlated inversely with physical training.Conclusions:Physical exercise produces a decrease in erythrocyte concentrations of Fe, Mg and P. This situation couldcause alterations in the performance of athletes given the importance of these elements. For this reason, we recommend anerythrocyte control at the beginning, and duringthe training period, to avoid harmful deficits.