Background and Objective

Metabolomics studies of recreational and elite athletes have been so far limited to venipuncture-dependent blood sample collection in the setting of controlled training and medical facilities. However, limited to no information is currently available to determine if findings in laboratory settings are translatable to a real-world scenario in elite competitions. The goal of this study was to define molecular signatures of exertion under controlled exercise conditions and use these signatures as a framework for assessing cycling performance in a World Tour competition.

Methods

To characterize molecular profiles of exertion in elite athletes during cycling, we performed metabolomics analyses on blood isolated from 28 international-level, elite, World Tour professional male athletes from a Union Cycliste Internationale World Team taken before and after a graded exercise test to volitional exhaustion and before and after a long aerobic training session. Moreover, established signatures were then used to characterize the metabolic physiology of five of these cyclists who were selected to represent the same Union Cycliste Internationale World Team during a seven-stage elite World Tour race.

Results

Using dried blood spot collection to circumvent logistical hurdles associated with field sampling, these studies defined metabolite signatures and fold change ranges of anaerobic or aerobic exertion in elite cyclists, respectively. Blood profiles of lactate, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, and acylcarnitines differed between exercise modes. The graded exercise test elicited significant two- to three-fold accumulations in lactate and succinate, in addition to significant elevations in free fatty acids and acylcarnitines. Conversely, the long aerobic training session elicited a larger magnitude of increase in fatty acids and acylcarnitines without appreciable increases in lactate or succinate. Comparable signatures were revealed after sprinting and climbing stages, respectively, in a World Tour race. In addition, signatures of elevated fatty acid oxidation capacity correlated with competitive performance.

Conclusions

Collectively, these studies provide a unique view of alterations in the blood metabolome of elite athletes during competition and at the peak of their performance capabilities. Furthermore, they demonstrate the utility of dried blood sampling for omics analysis, thereby enabling molecular monitoring of athletic performance in the field during training and competition.

中文翻译：

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精英世界巡回赛职业男子自行车运动员表现的代谢特征

背景和目的

迄今为止，休闲运动员和精英运动员的代谢组学研究仅限于在受控训练和医疗设施的环境中依赖静脉穿刺的血液样本采集。然而，目前还没有任何信息可以确定实验室环境中的发现是否可以转化为精英比赛中的现实场景。这项研究的目的是定义受控运动条件下运动的分子特征，并将这些特征用作评估世界巡回赛中自行车表现的框架。

方法

为了表征精英运动员在自行车运动期间运动的分子特征，我们对来自国际自行车联盟世界队的 28 名国际级精英世界巡回赛职业男运动员在进行意志力竭分级运动测试之前和之后采集的血液进行了代谢组学分析。以及长时间有氧训练之前和之后。此外，确定的特征随后被用来描述其中五名自行车手的代谢生理学特征，这些自行车手被选为代表同一国际自行车联盟世界队参加七阶段精英世界巡回赛。

结果

这些研究利用干血点采集来规避与现场采样相关的后勤障碍，分别定义了精英自行车运动员无氧或有氧运动的代谢特征和倍数变化范围。运动模式之间的乳酸、羧酸、脂肪酸和酰基肉碱的血液特征不同。分级运动测试除了游离脂肪酸和酰基肉碱显着升高外，还导致乳酸和琥珀酸显着积累两到三倍。相反，长时间的有氧训练会引起脂肪酸和酰基肉碱的大幅增加，而乳酸或琥珀酸盐没有明显增加。在世界巡回赛的冲刺赛和爬坡赛段后，分别出现了类似的特征。此外，脂肪酸氧化能力升高的特征与竞争表现相关。

结论

总的来说，这些研究为精英运动员在比赛期间和表现能力巅峰时血液代谢组的变化提供了独特的视角。此外，他们还展示了干血采样在组学分析中的实用性，从而能够在训练和比赛期间对田间运动表现进行分子监测。