Ribose supplementation in maximally exercising Thoroughbreds

Abstract

A diverse group of studies, which are equine exclusive, indicate that ribose administered to myocardial and skeletal muscle tissue stimulates ATP production and recovery. This study investigated the effects of ribose supplementation on blood and muscle metabolites and performance in Thoroughbred geldings performing a maximal treadmill standardised exercise test (SET). In Experiment 1, 6 conditioned Thoroughbred geldings performed a baseline SET and horses were assigned to one of 2 experimental treatment groups, placebo or ribose, based on VO2max. The placebo treatment group received 0.07 g glucose/kg bodyweight (bwt) and ribose treatment group received 0.07 g ribose/kg bwt top dressed on the feed twice daily. Following a 2 week treatment period, a second SET was performed. After a one-week washout period, the horses switched treatment groups. Following another 2 week treatment period, a third SET was performed. Blood ammonia-N was lower in the ribose treatment group at 15 min (P = 0.06) and 30 min (P = 0.02) postexercise. Plasma lactic acid was lower in the ribose treatment group at 30 min postexercise (P = 0.07). In Experiment 2, 1 h before a SET, 2 horses received 3 l water (control) and 3 horses 250 g of ribose dissolved in 3 l water (single ribose dose) via a nasogastric tube. Following a 2 week washout period, the horses switched treatment groups and another SET was performed. There were no differences in blood ammonia-N, plasma lactic acid or glucose between treatment groups. No differences in performance were detected between treatment groups in either experiment. In conclusion, the results from Experiment 1 show a trend that daily ribose supplementation may be beneficial during recovery from exercise. However, a single dose of ribose 1 h before exercise revealed no effect on the variables measured. Because moderate to intense daily exercise can cause a decrease in total adenine nucleotide (TAN) pool with no meaningful recovery even after 72 h rest, future experiments should be designed to futher elucidate the effects of ribose supplementation on TAN metabolism in horses exercising at high intensity.

The Effect of Exercise and Nutritional Supplementation on Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in Young Racehorses During Training

“…GPLC transports fatty acids to the mitochondria for oxidation, CoQ10 is essential for adenosine-5 0 -triphosphate (ATP) production as a cofactor in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, and D-ribose is an intergral structural component of ATP. These three nutrients have been demonstrated to increase exercise capacity in humans [100][101][102][103] and equids [58,104], presumably by stimulating ATP production and recovery while supporting ATP energy substrates at the same time [105]. Daily ribose supplementation (0.07 g/kg BW, twice daily) for 14 days in the diet of exercising geldings resulted in lower blood ammonia-N and plasma lactic acid during recovery after a standardized exercise test.…”

“…Various dietary supplements have been proposed to alleviate exercise-related injuries and illnesses [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]. Although many of these same compounds have been used in horses [37,[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58], their effect on exercise-induced proinflammatory responses has not been investigated in detail [55]. Here, we have examined the effect of a nutritional supplement on the proinflammatory response to exercise in 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses in training.…”

Effects of a Carbohydrate-, Protein-, and Ribose-Containing Repletion Drink During 8 Weeks of Endurance Training on Aerobic Capacity, Endurance Performance, and Body Composition

“…It has been suggested that supplemental ribose may aid in muscle recovery by maintaining or increasing ATP resynthesis rates after bouts of strenuous exercise (1,5,16,18,22,27,28,35). Previous studies (4,17,20), however, have reported no energy-related or performance-related benefits to ribose supplementation during exercise.…”

“…Based on the previous literature indicating that the addition of protein (1,3,15,25,30,33) may improve glycogen resynthesis and ribose (1,5,16,18,22,27,28,35) may preserve and increase the capacity for energy transfer during exercise, we hypothesized that the carbohydrate-, ribose-, and protein-containing repletion drink would augment the chronic endurance training-induced improvements in aerobic capacity and endurance performance after an 8-week period of endurance training and supplementation. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the inclusion of protein in the experimental formula may increase fat-free mass (FFM) more than carbohydrates alone (14) in cyclists.…”

“…Theoretically, ingesting supplemental doses of ribose may increase adenine nucleotide salvage and de novo synthesis, which would preserve the adenine nucleotide pool, increase cellular concentrations of adenosine diphosphate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and allow rapid restoration of cellular energy (1,5,16,18,22,27,28,35). In clinical populations, ribose has been implicated as an energy-providing supplement that may alter cardiac muscle function, reduce muscle cramping, and increase exercise tolerance (11,12,17,32,36).…”