ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2013 October;172(10):765-72

Copyright © 2013 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Set up of methodological analysis to evaluate antioxidant capacity in serum and saliva using DPPH test method

Doria E. ¹, Buonocore D. ¹, Angelini F. ², Bonuccelli A. ², Stefanini L. ², Stesina G. ², Marzatico F. ¹

¹ Department of Biology and Biotechnology University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; ² Juventus FC medical staff

Aim: Body oxygen consumption, during physical activity, especially high intensity or due to high stress environment, in the muscle fibers engaged in the performance can increase up to 200 times compared to that consumed at rest. In Football, it seems that the major mechanisms responsible for oxidative stress are: xanthine/Xanthine oxidase, eccentric muscle damage with micro-inflammation, leakage of electrons. Part of these oxygen molecules, in mitochondria, can undergo reduction with an increase in ROS production, the latter can have different negative influences on many cellular functions with both acute and chronic mechanisms. Human body has a complex defence system from oxidizing agents, which acts synergistically promoting ROS inactivation. These systems may not be sufficient to cover oxidative stress that can occur in strenuous exercise or during strenuous athletic seasons as a professional football league. In this work, we explored the possibility to monitor antioxidant capacity, with non-invasive method, of some Italian professional football players, during 2010/2011 season.
Methods: We have applied method developed by Atsumi in 1999, which used 1,1’-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH radical), using human samples, such as saliva and serum. We have tested two different methods to treat sample serum and we have compared serum vs saliva results, the latter is considered a diagnostic window on the blood and a valid non invasive method.
Results and conclusion: Our results show that the trend of antioxidant activity both in serum and saliva is comparable, in a athletes population, during the examined months showing qualitative efficacy of the method.