Effects of N-acetylcysteine supplementation on cellular damage and oxidative stress indicators in volleyball athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation on cellular damage and oxidative stress indicators in volleyball athletes. Twenty male volleyball athletes at national level performed a physical training session and were divided into 2 groups, which for 7 days took the placebo substance or NAC. After 7 days the athletes repeated the same training session. In both sessions, blood samples were collected 30 min before and immediately after the training session to measure cellular damage and oxidative stress markers. The main results show that, although higher concentrations of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were observed in post-session 1 than those in postsession 2, the other markers showed an increase in antioxidant action after supplementation of NAC, once the effect of experimental conditions (P=0.030) were observed in: time effect (P<0.001) and interaction (P=0.019) for total glutathione; time effect (P<0.001) and interaction (P<0.001) for reduced glutathione; and time effect (P<0.001) for ferric-reducing antioxidant potential. The oxidant action indicated by the protein carbonyl was higher in the placebo group than in the NAC group (P=0.028), but a time effect (P<0.001) for the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances showed lower values in presession 1 than in presession 2. For the cellular damage markers, antagonistic results between markers were found. Based in the results, the supplementation of NAC during a short period was effective in reducing oxidant action and increasing antioxidant action. However, conclusive alterations in the responses of the cellular damage markers were not obtained.

Investigation of the Effects of Volleyball Training on Athletes' Liver Enzymes and Muscle Damage Markers

“…Selçuk et al [26] concluded that a ten-day acute training program resulted in changes in AST, ALT, CK and some biochemical parameters of tennis players. In another study conducted by de Moraes et al (2018), it was reported that training and Nacetylcysteine (NAC) supplement caused changes in ALT, AST, LDH, ALP, CK and some biochemical parameters, indicators of cell damage and oxidative stress in volleyball players, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) provided with training would decrease oxidant effect [27]. Akbulut [28] expressed that eight weeks of resistance exercises had important effects on liver enzymes and body composition of participants.…”

How N-Acetylcysteine Supplementation Affects Redox Regulation, Especially at Mitohormesis and Sarcohormesis Level: Current Perspective

“…NAC supplementation was administered to several specific groups of athletes, including cyclists [100,101], triathletes [73], rowers [99], and volleyball players [98] to determine their role in redox related changes. Researchers also evaluated the possible effects of NAC on exercise-induced oxidative stress and adaptive mechanisms in healthy untrained men [68][69][70]72,74,[80][81][82][83][84], recreationally trained men [13,74,[85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92], and endurance-trained men [17,[94][95][96].…”

“…Researchers also evaluated the possible effects of NAC on exercise-induced oxidative stress and adaptive mechanisms in healthy untrained men [68][69][70]72,74,[80][81][82][83][84], recreationally trained men [13,74,[85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92], and endurance-trained men [17,[94][95][96]. Most studies primarily focused on the effects of NAC supplementation on GSH and GSH-related biomarkers in muscle [13,80,91,94] and plasma [68][69][70]74,82,83,85,90,91,98,99,101], and total or reduced NAC in muscle [17,101] and plasma [17,74,88]. However, it is challenging to comment on the relationship between NAC and glutathione availability, as studies differ in dose [17,83,<...>…”

“…Most studies primarily focused on the effects of NAC supplementation on GSH and GSH-related biomarkers in muscle [13,80,91,94] and plasma [68][69][70]74,82,83,85,90,91,98,99,101], and total or reduced NAC in muscle [17,101] and plasma [17,74,88]. However, it is challenging to comment on the relationship between NAC and glutathione availability, as studies differ in dose [17,83,93,98,99], exercise type [68,69,83,91], and training status [83,91,98,101]. It allows us to compare the results of the study in the case of studies with similar populations with similar NAC dosage and exercise protocol, thus shedding light on our interpretation.…”

“…Along with the glutathione status, several oxidant-and antioxidant biomarkers were measured to investigate the NAC effects on redox status by administering NAC before, during or after a study exercise protocol [70,93,98]. A study evaluating the effects of NAC pre-supplementation (4 × 200 mg/day for two days and one last dose of 800 mg on test morning) on maximal bicycle exercise in healthy untrained men showed that, although NAC pre-supplementation did not affect blood GSH levels, it led to an increase in peroxyl radical scavenging capacity (PSC) before the exercise, indicating an increase in the endogenous antioxidant capacity regardless of GSH concentrations [70].…”