Exercise training can induce adaptive changes to tendon tissue both structurally and mechanically; however, the underlying compositional changes that contribute to these alterations remain uncertain in humans, particularly in the context of the ageing tendon. The aims of the present study were to determine the molecular changes with ageing in patellar tendons in humans, as well as the responses to exercise and exercise type (eccentric (ECC) and concentric (CON)) in young and old patellar tendon. Healthy younger males (age 23.5 ± 6.1 years; n = 27) and older males (age 68.5 ± 1.9 years; n = 27) undertook 8 weeks of CON or ECC training (3 times per week; at 60% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM)) or no training. Subjects consumed D₂O throughout the protocol and tendon biopsies were collected after 4 and 8 weeks for measurement of fractional synthetic rates (FSR) of tendon protein synthesis and gene expression. There were increases in tendon protein synthesis following 4 weeks of CON and ECC training (P < 0.01; main effect by ANOVA), with no differences observed between young and old males, or training type. At the transcriptional level however, ECC in young adults generally induced greater responses of collagen and extracellular matrix-related genes than CON, while older individuals had reduced gene expression responses to training. Different training types did not appear to induce differential tendon responses in terms of protein synthesis, and while tendons from older adults exhibited different transcriptional responses to younger individuals, protein turnover changes with training were similar for both age groups.

运动训练可以在结构和机械方面引起肌腱组织的适应性变化；然而，导致这些改变的潜在成分变化在人类中仍然不确定，特别是在老化肌腱的背景下。本研究的目的是确定人类髌腱随衰老而发生的分子变化，以及年轻和年老髌腱对运动和运动类型（偏心 (ECC) 和同心 (CON)）的反应。健康的年轻男性（年龄 23.5 ± 6.1 岁；n  = 27）和年长男性（年龄 68.5 ± 1.9 岁；n  = 27）进行了 8 周的 CON 或 ECC 训练（每周 3 次；最大重复次数为 1 次的 60%（ 1RM））或没有培训。受试者食用 D ₂O 整个协议和肌腱活检在 4 周和 8 周后收集，用于测量肌腱蛋白合成和基因表达的分数合成率 (FSR)。在 4 周的 CON 和 ECC 训练后，肌腱蛋白合成有所增加（P < 0.01；方差分析的主要影响），在年轻和年老的男性或训练类型之间没有观察到差异。然而，在转录水平上，年轻人的 ECC 通常比 CON 诱导更多的胶原蛋白和细胞外基质相关基因的反应，而老年人对训练的基因表达反应降低。不同的训练类型似乎不会在蛋白质合成方面引起不同的肌腱反应，虽然老年人的肌腱对年轻人表现出不同的转录反应，但两个年龄组的蛋白质转换变化与训练相似。