INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Recent studies have observed a high incidence of acute kidney injury after marathon running. This study focuses on evaluating the incidence of kidney damage in a larger cohort of marathon runners, as well as on checking its post-marathon evolution and the impact of different recovery strategies.
METHODS: After an initial observational phase evaluating the incidence of kidney damage after Valencia Marathon FTA edp 2016 and its evolution in the first 48 postrace hours, the 88 participants were randomly assigned to a recovery program consisting of repose, elliptical machine or jogging to compare the evolution of biochemical alterations observed during the observational phase. (Trial Registration: NCT 03155633)
RESULTS: From the 88 participants, 42 (48.28%) presented acute renal failure after marathon running, mainly grade 1 (95.2%). Microscopic hematuria was observed in 29 runners (33%). Interleukin-6, and leukocytes and neutrophils markedly increased at the marathon’s finish line. No differences were observed in the glomerular filtration rate in absolute terms after 48 hours between intervention groups, although the percentage of increase with respect to the baseline value was higher in the jogging group at 96 and 144 hours post-marathon.
CONCLUSIONS: We confirm slight transient changes in glomerular filtration rate accompanied by renal structural damage data after running a marathon. Our data suggests that inflammatory activation could trigger these alterations. Although the use of jogging as a recovery method was associated with greater glomerular filtration rate when data was analyzed as relative percentage, the positive results obtained in the three groups may prevent us to recommend a specific recovery strategy over another.
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