NCT04523675

NAC Supplementation and Soccer Specific Performance

Effects of NAC Supplementation on Immune Function, Inflammatory and Performance Responses of Elite Soccer Players Participated in Three Repetitive Games.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Thessaly · Academic / Other
• Sex: Male
• Age: 18 Years – 28 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

In this investigation the investigators utilized NAC supplementation to boost GSH availability during an one-week-microcycle consisting of three soccer games, in order to test the hypotheses that: i) antioxidant supplementation may enhance the recovery of performance and physiological stress variables following multiple match-plays and ii) redox status perturbations are critical in regulating the inflammatory response and repair in skeletal muscle, following repetitive exercise-induced muscle injuries.

Detailed description

After exercise-induced muscle microtrauma the thiol/disulfide couple of reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) is a key regulator of important transcriptional pathways that control the inflammatory response and recovery of skeletal muscle. The objective was to examine how thiol-based antioxidant supplementation affects the muscle damage, oxidative stress, inflammatory and immune responses, as well as the level of post-game fatigue and muscle's recovery kinetics in response to three soccer games within a week. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: i) Experimental-NAC \[EXP-NAC, N=10, participated in daily training sessions and three games and received NAC (20 mg/kg/day)\], ii) Experimental-Placebo (EXP-Pla, N=10, participated in daily training sessions and three games and received Placebo), iii) Control-NAC \[CON-NAC, N=10, participated in daily training sessions only and received NAC(20 mg/kg/day)\] and iv) Control-Placebo (CON-Pla, N=10, participated in daily training sessions only and received Placebo). Blood samples were collected at baseline, post-games and daily during recovery. Performance was assessed at baseline and daily during recovery.

Conditions

• Skeletal Muscle Damage
• Exercise-induced Aseptic Inflammation
• Skeletal Muscle Performance
• Antioxidant Status

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	N-acetylcysteine	Orally in three daily dosages (morning-midday-evening), at 20 mg/kg/day, for seven consecutive days.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Placebo	500 mL drink that contained water (375 mL), sugar-free cordial (125 ml), and 2 g of low-calorie glucose/dextrose powder. Orally in three daily dosages (morning-midday-evening), for seven consecutive days.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-04-01
• Primary completion: 2016-07-01
• Completion: 2016-12-01
• First posted: 2020-08-21
• Last updated: 2020-08-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Greece