Aldosterone levels and cardiac hypertrophy in professional cyclists

Aldosterone has been associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy and a correlation has been found between levels of aldosterone and the degree of cardiac hypertrophy in hypertensive patients. Our study aimed to test the relation between physiologic cardiac hypertrophy and serum aldosterone in a group of highly trained cyclists. Determination of the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was performed in a group of 40 professional cyclists by using Devereux's formula with correction for body surface area. After an overnight fast, blood samples were collected and serum aldosterone levels were measured using RIA. LVMI and serum aldosterone were intercorrelated using linear regression analysis. Twenty-three of the 40 cyclists (58%) presented an LVMI > 130 g.m-1 and the other 17 subjects (42%) presented an LVMI < 130 g.m-1. Serum aldosterone levels did not correlate with LVMI in either of the groups (LVMI > 130 g.m-1, r = -0.089; LVMI < 130 g.m-1, r = 0.146). The lack of correlation of this hypertrophy with serum aldosterone levels suggests that physiologic hypertrophy of the athlete's heart could be caused by a different stimulus to that seen in pathologic hypertrophy of hypertensives.