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September 19, 2026European Journal of Preventive CardiologyOpen Access

Strenuous Exercise Elicits Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Maladaptation in a Rodent Model: Atrial Fibrillation and Vascular Risk in Females

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Key result

High-intensity treadmill training induces AF propensity and vascular harm in rats via sex-dependent mechanisms.

Why the study?

Whether the detrimental cardiovascular effects of chronic strenuous exercise observed in males also occur in females was unknown.

Does a 16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen induce cardiovascular maladaptation, including atrial fibrillation and vascular risk, in female Wistar rats compared to sedentary controls?

Population

Male and female Wistar rats

Comparison

16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen vs sedentary

Design

Preclinical animal study

Follow-up

16 weeks

Authors

AMAline Meza‐RamosAAAnna AlcarrazCRCira Rubies

Discussion

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Member takes

Key expert perspectives

Captured external expert commentary on this paper, strongest first. Original sources are linked where available.

EGEduard GuaschCardiologist, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona

“Although moderate exercise is usually associated with cardiovascular health benefits, we have found that, under certain conditions, it can favour the onset of atrial fibrillation”

News Coverage

Overview

Suggests sex-specific exercise harms in female rodents; hypothesis-generating and requires human studies before clinical relevance.

Key Points

  • To determine whether the harmful cardiovascular effects of chronic strenuous exercise, such as atrial fibrillation and vascular maladaptation, manifest in females similarly to males.
  • Male and female Wistar rats were subjected to a 16-week high-intensity treadmill training regimen or kept sedentary.
  • Cardiovascular outcomes were evaluated using echocardiography, electrocardiography, invasive hemodynamics, histology, molecular biology, and transcriptomic and proteomic profiling.
  • Both sexes developed physiological left ventricular remodeling alongside systolic and diastolic right ventricular dysfunction, with exercised females developing atrial fibrosis and a comparable vulnerability to atrial fibrillation relative to males.
  • Female rats exhibited more pronounced exercise-induced transcriptional changes in the left atrium, lacked exercise-induced vascular endothelial improvements, and developed tunica media fibrosis without oxidative stress.
  • Resting plasma proteomic profiling pinpointed Ccl20 as a candidate biomarker of exercise-induced damage, alongside acute sex-specific variations in circulating markers of inflammation and fibrosis.

Structured PICO

Does a 16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen induce cardiovascular maladaptation, including atrial fibrillation and vascular risk, in female Wistar rats compared to sedentary controls?

P
Population
Male and female Wistar rats subjected to a 16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen or sedentary control to assess cardiovascular maladaptation.
I
Intervention
16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen
C
Comparator
Remained sedentary
O
Outcome
Structural and functional cardiac parameters assessed through echocardiography, electrocardiography, invasive hemodynamics, histology, molecular biology, and transcriptomic profilingsurrogate

Strenuous endurance exercise increases the risk of atrial fibrillation and vascular harm in female rats, similar to males, but these maladaptations are driven by distinct sex-specific mechanisms.

Cite This Study

Meza‐Ramos et al. (2026) studied Cardiovascular maladaptation. High-intensity treadmill regimen vs. Sedentary was evaluated on Structural and functional cardiac parameters, atrial fibrillation propensity, and vascular function. A 16-week high-intensity treadmill regimen induced atrial fibrillation propensity and vascular harm in female rats similar to males, though with sex-dependent underlying mechanisms.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aae47640c69660b71ecc6d6https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwag482
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Moderate Endurance Exercise Increases Arrhythmia Susceptibility and modulates Cardiac Structure and Function in a Sexually Dimorphic manner2023 · 1 citations
  2. 2Moderate Endurance Exercise Increases Arrhythmia Susceptibility and Modulates Cardiac Structure and Function in a Sexually Dimorphic Manner2024
  3. 3Long-term exercise results in morphological and biomechanical changes in coronary resistance arterioles in male and female rats2020 · 13 citations
  4. 4Balanced Intense Exercise Training Induces Atrial Oxidative Stress Counterbalanced by the Antioxidant System and Atrial Hypertrophy That Is Not Associated with Pathological Remodeling or Arrhythmogenicity2021 · 13 citations
  5. 5Sex Differences in Morphological and Functional Aspects of Exercise-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy in a Rat Model2019 · 32 citations