Aerobic Exercise under Cold Conditions May Affect the Cardiac Structure by Elevating the Galectin 3 and CK-MB Levels
(Saime Ozbek Sebin, Engin Sebin, Basak Gulakar, Cebrail Gencoglu, Serhat Ozbay, Suleyman Ulupinar, Konca Altinkaynak, Abdullah Bora Ozkara)

This study aimed to evaluate the myocardial effects of aerobic exercise in cold weather in healthy individuals by measuring galectin-3 (Gal-3) and CK-MB levels. Forty-one individuals (12 professional athletes [age: 21.91 ± 2.60 years, body mass: 63.5 ± 8.4 kg, BMI: 21.7 ± 1.6 kg/m2], 14 physically active [age: 21.95 ± 2.30 years, body mass: 65.5 ± 10.3 kg, BMI: 22.4 ± 1.4 kg/m2], and 15 sedentary individuals [age: 21.40 ± 2.64 years, body mass: 62.5 ± 7.4 kg, BMI: 22.2 ± 1.7 kg/m2]) participated in this study. Athletes and physically active individuals performed 40 minutes of acute aerobic running exercises at 0°C and 20°C environmental temperatures. Gal-3 and CK-MB levels were measured pre- and post-exercise. Baseline Gal-3 levels of professional athletes (p < 0.001) and physically active individuals (p = 0.048) were significantly higher than those of sedentary individuals. Two-way ANOVA showed significant interaction (p = 0.035) between temperature (0°C vs. 20°C) and exercise (pre- vs. post-exercise). At 0°C, there was a significant increase in post-exercise serum Gal-3 levels when compared with pre-exercise values (p < 0.001, +7.1%), whereas no significant difference was observed at 20°C. Moreover, no significant interaction was found for CK-MB levels (p = 0.306) between the temperature (0°C vs. 20°C) and exercise (pre- vs. post-exercise). Additionally, there was a significant difference between pre- and post-exercise values at the 0°C environmental temperature for serum CK-MB levels (p < 0.001), while there was no significant difference at 20°C. This study demonstrates that regular exercise is associated with biochemical abnormalities that may affect cardiac structure and function. Aerobic exercise under cold conditions may cause myocardial injury.

Ozbek Sebin, S., Sebin, E., Gulakar, B., Gencoglu, C., Ozbay, S., Ulupinar, S., Altinkaynak, K. & Ozkara, A. B. (2026). Aerobic Exercise under Cold Conditions May Affect the Cardiac Structure by Elevating the Galectin 3 and CK-MB Levels. Journal of Human Kinetics, 101, 87–102. https://doi.org/10.5114/jhk/213943