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REVIEW article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of Disease
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1439399
This article is part of the Research Topic Exercise and Transplant Sport: The journey to a more active life View all 4 articles

The Impact of High Intensity Training and Sports on Recipients of Solid Organ Transplants: A Narrative Review

Provisionally accepted
Abraham Kayeye Abraham Kayeye 1Ifigeneia Triantafyllou Ifigeneia Triantafyllou 2Sunita Mathur Sunita Mathur 3Tania Janaudis-Ferreira Tania Janaudis-Ferreira 1*
  • 1 McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • 2 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece
  • 3 Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: High intensity exercise in individuals post solid organ transplant (SOT) remains a largely understudied phenomenon with potential r i s k s a n d benefits. additonally, the optimal training protocols are still unclear. This narrative review aimed to explore the impact of high-intensity exercise training, and strenuous sports on solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs).Methods: We conducted a narrative review of intervention studies of any design that included high-intensity exercise training, cross-sectional studies of strenuous sports and activities, and individual reports documenting post-SOT performance at highly competitive or physiological levels. We used MEDLINE to search for relevant articles followed by a manual search for additional articles. Data were extracted and results were summarized.Results: High intensity and strenuous exercise appear to be safe among stable SOTRs. High intensity protocols consistently demonstrated improvement in VO2peak, and reduction in coronary artery disease prevalence with inconsistent findings in body composition, health related quality of life outcomes, and cardiovascular biomarkers. Pre-transplant athletes showcase notable achievements and physiological adaptations post-transplantation, highlighting the capacity for athletic performance among this population. However, caution is warranted in interpreting the findings from these studies due to limitations in generalizability and other methodological limitations.Conclusion: As evidenced by current literature, high intensity exercise emerges as a promising exercise method for safely improving various physiological parameters, and reducing the prevalence of coronary heart disease in SOTRs. It can induce similar or greater effects to moderate intensity exercise however, follow-up studies indicate low retention. Further research of higher methodological rigor is warranted in this field to advance understanding, and to guide evidence-based practice.

    Keywords: Sports1, athletic performance2, swimming3, cycling4, running5, Transplantation6, Transplant Recipients7 High Intensity Exercise, Sports, transplant, Exercise, Athletic Performance, Cycling

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kayeye, Triantafyllou, Mathur and Janaudis-Ferreira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.