Regionally adaptive physical training for university students considering environmental and social disparities
Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are urban combustion by-products linked to endocrine disruption, but their direct molecular interactions with testosterone remain under-characterized. Using DFT [B3LYP/6-311 + G(d,p)] and 10-ns all-atom MD, we quantified non-covalent binding between benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene and testosterone, observing size-dependent stabilization (anthracene most favorable). Complementary MEP, Mulliken charge, and FMO analyses indicated progressive electronic coupling consistent with <i>π</i>-π and hydrophobic packing. In a semester-long controlled program with male university students (<i>n</i> = 60), we compared identical training conducted in a polluted urban area (PM<sub>2.5</sub> > 50 μg·m<sup>-3</sup>) vs. a suburban green zone (PM<sub>2.5</sub> < 10 μg·m<sup>-3</sup>) and observed larger gains in 100-m sprint, pull-ups, and standing long jump under cleaner air. We now report 95% confidence intervals alongside effect sizes for all field outcomes and provide a correlation between pollution intensity and performance change. PM<sub>2.5</sub> was used as an operational exposure index because combustion-related PAHs predominantly partition to fine particles and co-vary with PM₂.₅ mass in ambient air (WHO guideline context and PAH-PM₂.₅ literature). Collectively, the molecular and field evidence suggests larger PAHs may perturb testosterone function and that cleaner air is associated with better short-term training gains, informing air-quality-aware scheduling and campus policy.
Authors
- Galiya Madiyeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5827-8927)
- Светлана Николаевна Кондратенко
- Natalia Mikhailovna Shepetyuk
- Meruert Tuyakbaeva
- Saule Arkabaeva
Institutions
- L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (KZ)
- Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KZ)
- Satbayev University (KZ)
- Kazakh National Agrarian Research University (KZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Published
- 2025-10-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1679354
- Primary Topic
- Physical Activity and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney