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The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2013 February;53(1):71-9

Copyright © 2013 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Blood antioxidant and oxidative stress biomarkers acute responses to a 1000-m kayak sprint in elite male kayakers

Teixeira V. H. ¹, Valente H. F. ^{1, 2}, Casal S. I. ³, Marques F. P. ^{4, 5}, Moreira P. A. ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ² Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ³ REQUIMTE, Bromatology Service, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ⁴ Department of Clinical Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ⁵ Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology – IBMC, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the response of blood antioxidants and biomarkers of lipid peroxidation, muscle damage and inflammation to a 1000m kayak trial in elite male kayakers.
Methods: Enzymatic (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione reductase [Gr] and glutathione peroxidase [GPx] activities) and non-enzymatic (total antioxidant status [TAS], uric acid, α-tocopherol, α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene and lutein and zeaxanthin) antioxidants, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), creatine kinase (CK), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cortisol were determined in 15 elite male kayakers before and 15 min after a 1000-m kayak simulated race.
Results: Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were unaffected by exercise, with the exception of α-carotene which decreased (P=0.013). Uric acid levels were incremented following exercise (P=0.016). The acute exercise resulted in a significant decrease in TAS (P=0.001) and in an increase in CK (P=0.023), TBARS (P<0.001) and IL-6 (P=0.028).
Conclusion: Our study suggests that a 1000-m kayak simulated race induces oxidative stress and damage in highly-trained kayakers.