Ischemia-modified albumin levels in professional male soccer players before and after training

Objectives: The ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) test is a promising indicator of myocardial ischemia in the early diagnosis of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Recent studies examining alterations in IMA levels caused by myocardial ischemia that develops during exercise have shown contradictory results. There has been an increase in severe exercise-related cardiac events in football. We therefore, assessed IMA levels before and after exercise in professional soccer players in order to examine the effect of the exercise on IMA levels. Methods: Blood was collected from professional soccer players before and after exercise. IMA levels were measured by using spectrophotometric methods, and the albumin levels were measured in an autoanalyzer. Results: The average pre- and post exercise IMA levels of 16 soccer players were found to be 0.438 +/- 0.071 and 0.386 +/- 0.069, respectively. The pre-and post exercise albumin levels of the same group were 4.08 +/- 0.20 g/dL and 4.21 +/- 0.19 g/dL, respectively. There was a strong negative correlation between post exercise IMA and albumin levels, which was statistically significant (r = -0.535. p = 0.033). Conclusion: IMA levels should be examined not only in non-cardiac pathologies, but also in specific serum albumin concentrations and in individuals practicing vigorous sport activities.