Plasma volume expansion in humans after a single intense exercise protocol

R. NADEL. Plasma volume expansion in humans after a single intense exercise protocol. J. Appl. Physiol. 71(5): 1914-1920, 1991.-We used intense intermittent exercise to produce a 10% expansion of plasma volume (PV) within 24 h and tested the hypothesis that PV expansion is associated with an increase in plasma albumin content. The protocol consisted of eight 4-min bouts of exercise at 85 % maximal 0, uptake with 5-min recov-ery periods between bouts. PV, plasma concentrations of albu-min and total protein (TP), and plasma osmolality were mea-sured before and during exercise and at 1,2, and 24 h of recov-ery from exercise. During exercise, PV decreased by 15%, while plasma TP and albumin content remained at control levels. At 1 h of recovery, plasma albumin content was elevated by 0.17 t 0.04 g/kg body w-t, accounting for the entire increase in plasma TP content. PV returned to control level at 1 h of recover