Features of the Neuroendocrine Status of Individuals in Various Sports Specializations in the Context of Primary Prevention of Psychoactive Substance Use

The dissertation is devoted to the study of the features of the neuroendocrine status of individuals engaged in various types of sports, in the context of primary prevention of psychoactive substance use. The research is conducted on students of a physical culture and sports university specializing in various sports disciplines and includes an assessment of the state of the endogenous opioid system (specifically, the level of beta-endorphin), the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid systems at rest and under the influence of physical loads of different character and intensity, including maximum permissible ones. An analysis of vegetative status based on heart rate variability and biochemical parameters of blood is also conducted. The objective of the work is to identify which sports specializations possess a physiological basis for the primary prevention of psychoactive substance use and to substantiate recommendations for the application of physical loads in the correction of psychophysiological predisposition to dependence.

Relevance. The health of the nation is among the paramount key elements determining the prospects of a country's development. In the context of modern civilization, a person is exposed to various pathogenic factors, under the influence of which their health, both physical and mental, is impaired. The state of health of the younger generation is a matter of particular concern.

A significant contribution to the deterioration of human health is made by the consumption of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco smoking. This problem is most acute in the adolescent and youth environment. More than 90% of narcological dispensary patients are individuals under the age of 35, with the peak morbidity occurring at 18-19 years of age [Sidorov P.I., 2002; Churkin A.A., Tvorgova N.A., 2002]. The situation is further exacerbated by a sharp reduction in the "age threshold" for initiation of psychoactive substance use. The first acquaintance with drugs most commonly occurs at 11-15 years of age, while with tobacco and alcohol even earlier, at 5-6 years [Skvortsova E.S., 1997; Egorov V.F., 2001; Oshchenko G.G., 2002; Kudinova V.A., 2004; Bruk T.M., 2004]. Narcotics and toxicomania lead to complete personality degradation, polysystem functional exhaustion, multi-organ pathology, and ultimately to the death of the organism [Babayan E.A., 1988; Bilibin D.P., Dvornikov V.E., 1991; Pyatnitskaya I.N., 1996; Friedman L.S., Fleming N.F., 2000; Shabanov P.D., Shtakelberg O.Yu., 2001, 2003; Ivanets N.N., 2002, et al.].

Given the social significance of the problem, the high cost, duration, and in many cases ineffectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation measures [Pyatnitskaya N.N., 1996; Broer, Garresten, 1995; Corsino et al., 1996], the search for various methods of primary prevention of pathological dependence on psychoactive substances is of particular urgency. A powerful tool in the prevention of psychoactive substance use is physical culture and sports.

A considerable body of theoretical and experimental data has been accumulated in various fields of science demonstrating the effectiveness of physical culture and sports methods and means in preventing narcotic addiction, toxicomania, alcoholism, and tobacco smoking [Suchilin A.A., 2002; Shchetsin Yu.N., 2002; Mochenov A.B., 2002; Yakoboshvili V.A., Pogrebnoi A.N., 2002; Bruk T.M., 2004; Parshikova N.V., 2004; Evseev S.P., 2004]. However, research practically revealing the mechanisms of this positive influence is virtually absent. The question remains open as to which specific types of loads and, consequently, which sports specializations are most effective.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that certain types of sports are often associated with the use of anabolic steroids and doping substances prohibited by the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee, which exert a negative influence on the organism. Moreover, the concept of "sport" is not equivalent to the concept of "health"; achieving sporting results is often possible when functional systems operate at the borderline of norm and pathology, with a high probability of adaptation failure. Various intensities of physical loads, up to the maximum permissible, act upon the athlete's organism, which can ultimately lead to decompensation and the development of pathology of various systems and organs: cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, and others [Meerson F.Z., Pshennikova M.G., 1988; Aronov D.M., 2002; Makarova G.A., 2003]. On the other hand, not only the achievement of sporting results but also the state of an individual's health (physical and mental) is determined by the state of neuroendocrine regulation of physiological processes. However, the number of works devoted to the study of neuroendocrine status in individuals engaged in physical culture and sports is comparatively small.

Particular interest is attached to the study of the influence of muscular activity on the endogenous opioid system, a question insufficiently addressed in domestic and foreign literary sources [Orlova E.Kh., 1987; Tendzegolskis Zh.L., 1988; Surkina I.D., 1996; Rahkila R., 1988; Kraemer W., 1993; Harte J.L., 1995; Inder W., 1998; Hirvonen J., 2002]. The endogenous opioid system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of narcotic addiction, toxicomania, and alcoholism, precisely through it that psychoactive agents realize their effect [Komarevceva I.A., 1989; Bilibin D.P., Dvornikov V.E., 1991; Ashmarin I.P., Stukalov P.V., 1996; Trachtenberg M., 1987, 1988; Blum K., 1988; Carr D., 1990, et al.]. Opioid peptides: enkephalins, endorphins, and dynorphins participate in the regulation of human psychoemotional status. Hyperproduction of endogenous morphins, the most important of which is beta-endorphin, shifts the emotional balance in a positive direction, owing to which these substances have received the name "happiness hormones" [Morgan W., 1985].

Data have been accumulated indicating that an innate predisposition to the use of psychoactive substances is present in individuals whose bodies synthesize endogenous opioid peptides in insufficient quantities (i.e., there is a hypofunction of the opioid system), so they seek to compensate for the existing deficit by taking euphoric substances. Exogenous psychoactive substances temporarily eliminate the neurotransmitter imbalance, causing an opioid surge, but quickly lead to imbalance and deep suppression of the entire system, forming pathological dependence [Komarevceva I.A., 1989; Ashmarin I.P., Karazeeva E.P., 1996; Targa L., 1996; Trachtenberg M., Blum K., 1998, et al.]. Taking the above into account, the search for methods of stimulating the endogenous opioid system by natural means, as opposed to the use of psychoactive substances, is a pressing issue. Physical culture and sports, "overcoming oneself," achieving ever better sporting results are very often accompanied by feelings of joy and satisfaction, which allows their use for the purpose of preventing psychoactive substance use. In this connection, the influence of various physical loads of different character and intensity on the opioid system is of interest. Scientific works devoted to this problem are virtually absent.

All of the above served as the basis for conducting the present research.

Research objective: to assess the features of the neuroendocrine status of individuals in various sports specializations, including under the influence of maximum permissible physical loads on the organism, in the context of primary prevention of psychoactive substance use.

Research tasks:

1. To study the features of the endogenous opioid system status using beta-endorphin as an example in students specializing in various sports, at rest and under the influence of various physical loads of different character and intensity, including maximum permissible ones.

2. To identify the features of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems in students specializing in various sports, at rest and under the influence of various physical loads of different character and intensity, including maximum permissible ones.

3. To assess the vegetative status based on heart rate variability analysis.

4. To carry out an analysis of the relationships between indicators of psychophysiological status, the endogenous opioid, endocrine, and vegetative nervous systems.

5. On the basis of neuroendocrine status assessment, to identify types of sports that can be considered most effective for the primary prevention of psychoactive substance use.

6. To create a database for each examined student for use in the practice of medical control and the educational-training process.

Scientific novelty.

For the first time, the state of the endogenous opioid system (EOS) at rest and under the influence of various physical loads of different character and intensity, including maximum permissible ones, has been studied in students of a physical culture and sports university specializing in various sports. Both stimulating and suppressing influences of physical loads on the EOS, depending on the sports specialization, have been discovered. Features of the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) systems, the state of protein-nitrogen, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism at rest and under the influence of physical loads on the organism, characteristic of different sports specializations, have been identified. Various in-direction adaptive rearrangements in the HPT and HPA systems, arising in response to the regular action of a powerful stressor - physical load, have been discovered. A different degree of involvement of the HPT and HPA systems in the realization of the organism's response to the action of heterogeneous physical loads of different character and intensity has been revealed.

On the basis of statistical and spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), models of vegetative regulation of cardiac rhythm have been identified, with an enhancement of the influences of suprasegmental vegetative structures found in trained individuals.

An analysis of correlational relationships between indicators of psychophysiological status, the endogenous opioid, endocrine, and vegetative nervous systems has been conducted. Relationships between the concentration of beta-endorphin in peripheral blood and indicators of psychophysiological status (self-perception, mood, activity, level of situational anxiety) have been identified. Correlational relationships between the concentrations of thyroid hormones and indicators of statistical and spectral analyses of HRV have been discovered.

On the basis of a comprehensive assessment of neuroendocrine status, the state of the cardiovascular system, and features of metabolism, sports specializations possessing a physiological basis for the primary prevention of psychoactive substance use have been identified.

Practical significance.

Predictors of the effectiveness of individual sports specializations in the primary prevention of psychoactive substance use have been identified.

The obtained results make it possible to recommend physical loads used in the training of game, cyclic, and extreme sports for the correction of psychophysiological predisposition to the use of psychoactive substances, with the aim of preventing the development of possible pathology.

The results of the work can be used in the conduct of medical control for the assessment of health status and the identification of pre-pathological and pathological conditions in individuals engaged in various types of sporting activity.

The results of the assessment of the functional state of the athlete's organism based on HRV analysis can be used in the practical activities of physical culture and sports instructors, coaches of higher and secondary educational institutions in planning and conducting the educational-training process for achieving the best sporting results, as well as in the practice of elite sports.

Theoretical significance.

The results of the research indicate a different character of relationships between the concentration of beta-endorphin in blood plasma and indicators of the current functional state of the CNS; the content of HPT and HPA hormones in peripheral blood and indicators of spectral and statistical analyses of HRV in students of various sports specializations. The identified features expand the understanding of the mechanisms of functioning of the neuroendocrine continuum in the trained organism under systematic exposure to stress factors, using various physical loads of different character and intensity as examples.

The obtained facts can serve as a basis for further research in this area.

Main provisions put forward for defense:

1. Regular exposure to physical loads of different character and intensity on the organism, as a stress factor, in individuals of various sports specializations leads both to adaptive rearrangements and to adaptation failure, which manifests itself in the features of functioning of the endogenous opioid, endocrine, and vegetative nervous systems and metabolism.

2. The character of correlational relationships between indicators of psychophysiological status, the endogenous opioid, endocrine, and vegetative nervous systems depends on the sports specialization.

3. Indicators of neuroendocrine status can serve as integral criteria for assessing the effectiveness of physical loads in various sports for the primary prevention of psychoactive substance use.

Validation.

The main provisions of the dissertation research have been published in 11 printed works.

The main theoretical provisions and practical results of the work were presented at international and all-Russian scientific-practical conferences:

1. "The Influence of Narcotic Addiction, Tobacco Addiction, Alcoholism, and Anthropogenic Load on the Health of the Population and Methods of Combating Them." International Scientific-Practical Conference. - Smolensk, 2003.

2. "Problems of Physical Culture of the Population Living under Unfavorable Environmental Factors." V International Scientific-Practical Conference. - Gomel, 2003.

3. "Physical Culture and Sports in the Prevention of Narcotic Addiction and Crime." International Scientific-Practical Conference. - Smolensk, 2004.

4. "Methodological and Medical-Psychological Aspects of Health and a Healthy Lifestyle." III All-Russian Scientific-Practical Conference. - Smolensk, 2005.

at expanded sessions of the departments of pathological physiology of SPSMA, general hygiene and human ecology of SPSMA, biological disciplines of SPbGFKST, sports medicine and adaptive physical culture of SPbGFKST, health-improving technologies of SPbGFKST, and the Federal Experimental Physical Culture and Sports Center for the Development and Validation of Youth Narcotic Addiction Prevention Technologies based on SPbGFKST.

Implementation of the work.

The materials of the research have been implemented in the scientific-practical activities of the department of pathological physiology of SPSMA, the Federal Experimental Physical Culture and Sports Center for the Development and Validation of Youth Narcotic Addiction Prevention Technologies based on SPbGFKST, and the research laboratory of the department of biological disciplines of SPbGFKST. Theoretical and practical aspects of the work have been included in the course of lectures on pathological physiology and sports medicine and are used in the process of training students of the advanced qualification faculty of SPSMA and SPbGFKST.

Connection with scientific research works.

The dissertation presents research materials obtained through the author's direct participation in the execution of the Federal Target Program "Complex Measures to Counter the Abuse of and Illegal Circulation of Narcotic Drugs, 2002-2004," as well as in the execution of the planned scientific research work of the department of biological disciplines of SPbGFKST on the problem of rehabilitation of various socio-demographic groups of the population, project No. 0110313. The author of this work is the responsible executor of the said research.

Structure and volume of the dissertation.

The work consists of an introduction, four chapters, conclusions, and practical recommendations; it is presented on 153 pages of typed text, contains 13 tables and 5 figures, and 262 sources of literature, of which 148 are foreign.