Effects of antioxidant supplementation on oxidative stress balance in young footballers: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background The intensive physical exercise in which athletes take part in competitive sports can negatively affect the pro-oxidative–antioxidant balance. The use of compounds with high antioxidant potential, which certainly should include chokeberry, can prevent these adverse changes. Methods The study was conducted on a group of football players aged 16–17 years, who underwent 7 weeks of supplementation with 200 ml chokeberry juice per day. Before and after supplementation, the participants performed an intensive physical exercise test (beep test). At rest, immediately after exercise and after 3 and 24 h of rest, venous blood was taken from the subjects, in which levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive products (TBARS), hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), iron (Fe), hepcidin, ferritin, myoglobin, albumin and morphological parameters were examined. Results There was a significant impact of the intervention in response to the physical exercise test in the studied groups on parameter dynamics: 8-OHdG (t = 3.56, p = 0.0005), albumin (t = 1.98, p = 0.049), TBARS (t = 4.33, p = 0.00003), hepcidin (t = 2.21, p = 0.03), and Mono level (t = 2.14, p = 0.04) and percentage (t = 2.27, p = 0.03). The post-hoc test showed no effect of chokeberry juice supply on any of the morphological, biochemical or performance parameters analysed. Conclusions The supplementation applied to footballers showed no effects under the influence of the applied exercise stress test. Such results may be the result of both the players’ adaptation to the applied exercise loads and the insufficient antioxidant capacity of the supplement used.