Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to analyze the changes caused by a one-day tennis tournament in biomarkers of oxidative stress and α-amylase in saliva in children. The sample was 20 male active children with the following characteristics: (a) age of players = 9.46 ± 0.66 years; (b) weight = 34.8 ± 6.5 kg; (c) height = 136.0 ± 7.9 cm; (d) mean weekly training tennis = 2.9 ± 1.0 h. The tennis competition ran for one day, with four matches for each player. Data were taken from the average duration per match and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Four biomarkers of antioxidant status: uric acid (AU), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric reducing ability of saliva (FRAS, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a biomarker of psychological stress were measured in saliva. The time points were baseline (at home before the tournament), pre-competition (immediately before the first match) and post-match (after each match) measurements. The four biomarkers of antioxidant status showed a similar dynamic with lower values at baseline and a progressive increase during the four matches. Overall one-day tennis competition in children showed a tendency to increase antioxidant biomarkers in saliva. In addition, there was an increase in pre-competition sAA possibly associated with psychological stress. Further studies about the possible physiological implications of these findings should be performed in the future.
Highlights
Tennis is an intermittent sport played of high-intensity actions characterized by short bouts of high intensity exercise, which are composed by accelerations/decelerations, strokes and change-of-direction (COD) interspersed with periods of low-moderate intensity or rest short break between points and moderate rest between games and sets [1]
The different figures indicate the results related to growth models, showing the trends linear, quadratic and cubic over time for each saliva analyte
The purpose of this paper was to describe the changes in biomarkers of oxidative and psychological stress in a group of children during a tennis tournament
Summary
Tennis is an intermittent sport played of high-intensity actions characterized by short bouts of high intensity exercise, which are composed by accelerations/decelerations, strokes and change-of-direction (COD) interspersed with periods of low-moderate intensity or rest short break between points and moderate rest between games and sets [1]. This leads to repetitive and elevated muscle demands during the match that induce a wide variety of physiological responses, including the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [2]. Public Health 2020, 17, 6269; doi:10.3390/ijerph17176269 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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