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Oxidative stress and delayed-onset muscle damage after exercise
Wataru Aoi1, Yuji Naito, Yoshikazu Takanami
1Department of Inflammation and Immunology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan. waoi@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
Free Radical Biology & Medicine
|July 17, 2004
Summary
Exercise-induced oxidative stress contributes to muscle damage and inflammation. Antioxidant alpha-tocopherol supplementation can mitigate these exercise-related inflammatory effects and protect skeletal muscle.
Area of Science:
- Exercise physiology
- Muscle biology
- Inflammation research
Background:
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in exercise-induced muscle damage.
- The role of oxidative stress and inflammation in delayed-onset muscle damage (DOMS) requires further investigation.
- Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling is a key regulator of inflammatory responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if oxidative stress increases NF-κB nuclear translocation and chemokine expression in skeletal muscle.
- To assess the impact of prolonged acute exercise on these inflammatory markers in vivo.
- To determine the efficacy of alpha-tocopherol in attenuating exercise-induced inflammation and muscle damage.
Main Methods:
- Utilized L6 myotube cells to model skeletal muscle response to oxidative stress (H2O2).
- Administered a high alpha-tocopherol diet to Sprague Dawley rats for 3 weeks.
- Subjected rats to a 60-minute treadmill exercise protocol and analyzed gastrocnemius muscle tissue.
Main Results:
- H2O2 induced NF-κB (p65) nuclear translocation and chemokine (CINC-1, MCP-1) expression in L6 cells, which was reduced by alpha-tocopherol.
- Exercise in rats increased nuclear p65, CINC-1, and MCP-1 in muscle, effects attenuated by the high alpha-tocopherol diet.
- Alpha-tocopherol also reduced oxidative stress markers (myeloperoxidase, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substrates) and histological damage, without altering neutrophil activity.
Conclusions:
- Prolonged exercise-induced DOMS is partly mediated by ROS-driven inflammation and phagocyte infiltration.
- Alpha-tocopherol, an antioxidant, effectively attenuates these exercise-induced inflammatory changes and muscle damage.
- Targeting ROS and inflammation with antioxidants may be a viable strategy for managing exercise-induced muscle damage.