Effects of caffeine supplementation on oxidative stress, exercise-induced muscle damage and leukocytosis

Abstract

Background: Athletes use variety of ergogenic aids such as caffeine to improve their performance. Many factors such as oxidative stress, muscular-damage and decreased immune function may have negative effect on athletic performance. However effects of caffeine on mentioned factors in female athletes after supramaximal exercise are rare and obscure. Methods: In this double-blind, cross-over study, 26 female basketball players supplemented with 5mg.kg-1 caffeine or dextrose as a placebo followed by Wingate test. Blood samples were obtained before and 5 minutes post-exercise for determining the serum malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), creatine kinase (CK) activity and blood's white blood cells (WBC). Kolmogrov-smirnov statistic test and paired t-test were used to analyze data. Results: After the Wingate test, WBC, lymphocyte, granulocyte count and serum MDA levels, were increased significantly in both groups(P<0.001). No significant differences were observed in increased levels between caffeine supplemented and placebo groups(P>0.05). Furthermore the changes in CK activity and TAC levels were not statistically significant in any of the groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings indicated that 5mg.kg-1 caffeine supplementation did not have significant adverse effect on oxidative stress, exercise-induced muscle damage and leukocytosis after Wingate test. Copyright © 2012 by Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.