TY - JOUR T1 - IGFBP-3, a sensitive marker of physical training and overtraining JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med SP - 604 LP - 610 DO - 10.1136/bjsm.2004.014183 VL - 39 IS - 9 AU - M Elloumi AU - N El Elj AU - M Zaouali AU - F Maso AU - E Filaire AU - Z Tabka AU - G Lac Y1 - 2005/09/01 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/39/9/604.abstract N2 - Objective: To investigate the response of the somatotrope axis (insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3)) to intense exercise in relation to tiredness. Methods: The study involved 11 rugby players who completed a questionnaire intended to evaluate fitness or, conversely, overtraining and who agreed to plasma samples being taken before and after an international rugby match. Results: The main finding of our study is that we observed strong negative correlations between IGF-1 (r = 0.652) and IGFBP-3 (r = 0.824) levels and the overtraining state estimated using the French Society of Sport Medicine questionnaire. In particular, there was a fall (of up to 25%) in IGFBP-3 levels after the match in the more fatigued subjects compared to an increase (of up to 40%) in fit subjects. Conclusions: A fall in IGFBP-3 in response to an intense bout of exercise may represent an index of tiredness in highly trained sportsmen, as indicated by the scores obtained from the overtraining questionnaire. ER -