Dark Chocolate Intake Positively Modulates Redox Status and Markers of Muscular Damage in Elite Football Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Elena Cavarretta,Andrea Serdoz,Elena De Falco,Sonia Schiavon,Cristina Nocella,Fabio Di Pilla,Riccardo Del Vescovo,Sebastiano Sciarretta,Giacomo Frati,Giuliana Gobbi,Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai,Leonardo Schirone,Mariangela Peruzzi,Roberto Carnevale,Roberto Ferrara

doi:10.1155/2018/4061901

Abstract

Intensive physical exercise may cause increase oxidative stress and muscular injury in elite football athletes. The aim of this study was to exploit the effect of cocoa polyphenols on oxidative stress and muscular injuries induced by intensive physical exercise in elite football players. Oxidant/antioxidant status and markers of muscle damage were evaluated in 24 elite football players and 15 controls. Furthermore, the 24 elite football players were randomly assigned to either a dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) intake (n = 12) or a control group (n = 12) for 30 days in a randomized controlled trial. Oxidative stress, antioxidant status, and muscle damage were assessed at baseline and after 30 days of chocolate intake. Compared to controls, elite football players showed lower antioxidant power and higher oxidative stress paralleled by an increase in muscle damage markers. After 30 days of dark chocolate intake, an increased antioxidant power was found in elite athletes assuming dark chocolate. Moreover, a significant reduction in muscle damage markers (CK and LDH, p < 0.001) was observed. In the control group, no changes were observed with the exception of an increase of sNox2-dp, H2O2, and myoglobin. A simple linear regression analysis showed that sNox2-dp was associated with a significant increase in muscle damage biomarker release (p = 0.001). An in vitro study also confirmed that polyphenol extracts significantly decreased oxidative stress in murine myoblast cell line C2C12-derived. These results indicate that polyphenol-rich nutrient supplementation by means of dark chocolate positively modulates redox status and reduced exercise-induced muscular injury biomarkers in elite football athletes. This trial is registered with NCT03288623.

Highlights

Intensive physical exercise may increase oxidative stress and cause muscular injury in elite athletes [1]
WBC, BMI, and H2O2 breakdown activity (HBA) were higher in controls compared to elite football athletes
lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), myoglobin soluble Nox2-derived peptide (sNox2dp), and H2O2 were higher in elite athletics compared to controls (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Intensive physical exercise may increase oxidative stress and cause muscular injury in elite athletes [1]. This represents a significant problem for professional football players representing more than one third of all time-loss injuries and causing more than a quarter of the total injury-dependent absence in high-level European professional football clubs [2]. Aerobic energy production generates a significant amount of ROS, which can increase up to 10- to 20-fold during physical exercise [6]. Previous evidence suggests that high ROS levels are able to induce muscular injury [1, 7, 8] with a consequent decrease in physical performance [9]. NADPH oxidase-derived formation of ROS may result in an altered redox state in muscles which may lead to contractile muscle dysfunction, accelerated muscle fatigue, longer recovery time, and reduced exercise performance [10]

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