Effect of inosine supplementation on aerobic and anaerobic cycling performance

Ten competitive male cyclists completed a Wingate Bike Test (WIN), a 30-min self-paced cycling performance bout (END), and a constant load, supramaximal cycling spring (SPN) to fatigue following 5 d of oral supplementation (5,000 mg.day-1) with inosine and placebo. Blood samples were obtained prior to and following both supplementation periods, and following each cycling test. Uric acid concentration was higher (P < 0.05) following supplementation with inosine versus placebo, but 2,3-DPG concentration was not changed. The data from WIN demonstrate that there were no significant differences in peak power (8.5 +/- 0.3 vs 8.4 +/- 0.3 W.kg body mass-1), end power (7.0 +/- 0.3 vs 6.9 +/- 0.2 W.kg body mass-1), fatigue index (18 +/- 2 vs 18 +/- 2%), total work completed (0.45 +/- 0.02 vs 0.45 +/- 0.02 kJ.kg body mass-1.30-s-1), and post-test lactate (12.2 +/- 0.5 vs 12.9 +/- 0.6 mmol.l-1) between the inosine and placebo trials, respectively. No difference was present in the total amount of work completed (6.1 +/- 0.3 vs 6.0 +/- 0.3 kJ.kg body mass-1) or post-test lactate (8.4 +/- 1.0 vs 9.9 +/- 1.3 mmol.l-1) during END between the inosine and placebo trials, respectively. Time to fatigue was longer (P < 0.05) during SPN for the placebo (109.7 +/- 5.6 s) versus the inosine (99.7 +/- 6.9 s) trial, but post-test lactate (14.8 +/- 0.7 vs 14.6 +/- 0.8 mmol.l-1) was not different between the treatments, respectively. These findings demonstrate that prolonged inosine supplementation does not appear to improve aerobic performance and short-term power production during cycling and may actually have an ergolytic effect under some test conditions.