Regular physical activity is associated with proven benefits in terms of lower mortality risk, lower major adverse cardiovascular events and a general improvement in quality of life. Physical exercise is furthermore associated with several cardiovascular benefits: it lowers blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity, lipid levels and it also represents the cornerstone of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with coronary heart disease and heart failure. However, strenuous physical training has been associated with structural heart modifications and pathological conditions and may lead to progressive adaptations known as “athlete’s heart”. Among cardiovascular pathologies life threatening ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death have been reported in athletes. High level physical activity plays a role in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and may act as a trigger for channelopathies as catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. Building on these premises, this Research Topic will be focused on the relationship between sport and cardiovascular effects.

The goal of this Research Topic is to assess the molecular and genetic physiological and the pathological changes induced by physical activity. The beneficial effects of physical exercise may be evaluated in specific diseases, such heart failure and coronary heart disease. On the other hand, the pathological effects of sport can be assessed on sport-induced arrhythmias and sport-related cardiomyopathies (such as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy) and sport-triggered channelopathies (catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia). In particular, it is desirable to analyze the molecular basis of this complex relationship aiming also at defining molecular therapeutic targets. Finally, there is also an unmet clinical need for molecular markers that could aid in differential diagnosis between athlete’s conditions and pathologies.

This Research Topic welcomes review papers and original research on the following themes but is not limited to them:

• Sport and cardiovascular effects: physiological and pathological changes in gene expression
• Arrhythmias in athletes: diagnosis and treatment
• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and physical activity: the molecular basis of stress induced fibrofatty replacement and new therapeutic targets
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and athlete’s heart: novel molecular markers (original research)
• Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia: RyR 2 receptor role in pathogenesis and as therapeutic target
• Physical activity and heart failure: molecular and genetic analysis in heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction
• Physical activity induced molecular and genetic changes on atherosclerotic plaques

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Frontiers in Physiology

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