Plasma acetaldehyde concentration IS increased following forearm ischemia - Reperfusion exercise

Exercise and ischemia-reperfusion result in oxidative stress in skeletal muscle. Plasma malondialdehyde has traditionally been used as an indicator of this stress, however, other aldehydes are also affected. We have used a recently described, rapid, solid-phase extraction/derivitization HPLC method (Breckenridge, S, et al., J. Chromatography, 694:289-296, 1997) to determine plasma aldehydes in 17 male and female volunteers. Venous plasma samples were obtained before (BASE) and after (+ 1, 3, 5 min) isometric, ischemic, handgrip exercise. When compared to BASE peaks, the acetaldehyde concentration increased significantly post-exercise at each time point (+1 = 51%; +3 = 95%; +5 = 97%)(P < 0.00001). We conclude that isometric ischemia-reperfusion exercise results in an oxidative stress that increases plasma acetaldehyde concentration. This method should prove useful in future trials of the efficacy of anti-oxidants during exercise.