AbstractRationaleSubjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are prone to accelerated decay of muscle strength and mass with advancing age. This is mediated by systemic pathophysiologies, which are also believed to impair responses to exercise training, a notion that remains largely unstudied.ObjectivesTo investigate the presence of impaired training responsiveness in COPD, measured as responses to resistance training compared to healthy participants.MethodsCOPD (GOLD grade II-III, n=20, age 69±5) and Healthy (n=58, age 67±4) conducted identical whole-body resistance training interventions, consisting of two weekly, supervised training sessions for 13 weeks. Leg exercises were performed unilaterally, with one leg conducting high-load training (10 repetitions maximum; RM) and the contralateral leg conducting low-load training (30RM).Measurements and Main ResultsMeasurements included muscle strength (n=7), endurance performance (n=6), muscle mass (n=2), muscle quality, muscle biology (vastus lateralis; muscle fiber characteristics, RNA content including transcriptome) and health-related variables (body composition, blood). For core outcome domains, weighted combined factors were calculated from the range of singular assessments.COPD showed marked improvements in lower-limb muscle strength/mass/quality and lower-limb/whole-body endurance performance, resembling or exceeding those of Healthy, measured as both relative and absolute change terms. This was accompanied by similar changes in muscle biological hallmarks (total RNA/rRNA content↑, muscle fiber cross-sectional area↑, type IIX proportions↓, changes in the mRNA transcriptome). Neither of the core outcome domains were differentially affected by resistance training load.ConclusionsCOPD showed marked, unimpaired and hitherto unrecognized responsiveness to resistance training, rejecting the notion of disease-related impairments in training responsiveness.
Functionality of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at 3 months follow-up after elastic resistance training: a randomized clinical trial
