Abstract
This study compared the effect of alpha-lactalbumin and whey protein on muscle damage, muscle pain, and mood states during short term recovery following strenuous prolonged exercise. In a two-stage crossover counterbalanced design, 12 endurance male runners were recruited (age: 30.4 ± 2.8 year, height: 172.7 ± 5.6 cm, body mass: 66.7 ± 6.5 kg, VO2max: 58.0 ± 6.9 ml/kg−/min), ran for 90 min at 70% VO2max, and followed by a 4-h recovery. Two treatments (carbohydrate+alpha-lactalbumin, CA; carbohydrate+whey protein isolate, CW) were applied during the main trials. During the first 2-h of recovery, CHO was served at the rate of 0.66 g/kg/h and PRO at 0.34 g/kg/h every 30 min. Creatine kinase (CK), interleukin-6 (IL-6), salivary cortisol, rating of muscle pain, pressure pain threshold (PPT), and mood states were evaluated before (Pre-ex), immediately (Post-ex0), 2 h (Post-ex2h) and 4 h (Post-ex4h) after exercise. 24 h after exercise (Post-ex24h), CK and IL-6, muscle pain, and PPT were evaluated. Compared with Pre-ex, Post-ex24h CK was higher in both trials of CA (398.16 ± 41.37 vs. 184.77 ± 22.68 IU/L, P = 0.039) and CW (418.17 ± 67.86 vs. 202.41 ± 22.26 IU/L, P = 0.037). IL-6 was also higher than Pre-ex at Post-ex0 and Post-ex2h in trials of CA (Post-ex0 vs. Pre-ex0: 7.87 ± 0.74 vs. 1.69 ± 0.23, P < 0.01; Post-ex2h vs. Pre-ex0: 5.39 ± 0.88 vs. 1.69 ± 0.23, P = 0.02) and CW (Post-ex0 vs. Pre-ex0: 8.63 ± 1.06 vs. 1.59 ± 0.19, P < 0.01; Post-ex2h vs. Pre-ex0: 5.75 ± 1.33 vs. 1.59 ± 0.19, P < 0.01). No difference was found in CK and IL-6 between two trials at all time points (all P > 0.05). Compared with Pre-ex0, salivary cortisol was elevated at Post-ex0 in both trials (CA: 0.96 ± 0.13 vs. 0.41 ± 0.05 ng/ml, P < 0.01; CW: 1.15 ± 0.18 vs. 0.43 ± 0.06 ng/ml, P < 0.01) and was lower at Post-ex24h than Pre-ex in CA trial (0.17 ± 0.02 vs. 0.41 ± 0.05 ng/ml, P < 0.01). Compared with CW, PPT was higher at Post-2h in CA trial (31.55 ± 3.09 vs. 26.99 ± 2.32 N/cm2, P < 0.01). Compared with Post-ex0, feeling of fatigue was lower at Post-ex2h (P = 0.014) and Post-ex4h (P < 0.01) in CA, while it was lower at Post-ex4h (P = 0.038) in CW. Compared with CW, feeling of fatigue was marginally lower in the CA trial at Post-ex2h (P = 0.056). In conclusion, compared with the co-ingestion of CHO and whey PRO isolate, co-ingestion of CHO and alpha-lactalbumin reduced sensitivity to the muscle pain, attenuated feeling of fatigue and was more beneficial to reduce the feeling of fatigue and cortisol responses during 4-h recovery following 90-min running at 70% VO2max.
Highlights
Prolonged strenuous exercise elicits a series of hemostatic alternations including metabolite accumulation (Tanaka et al, 1983), muscle glycogen depletion (Ivy et al, 2002), and muscle damage (Saunders et al, 2004)
The main findings of the present study included: (1) In both trials of CA and CW, concentration of Creatine Kinase (CK), IL-6, and cortisol increased following strenuous prolonged treadmill running at 70% VO 2max
These responses were associated with increased muscle pain, ratings of negative mood dimension, and total mood disturbance (TMD); (2) Compared with CW, pressure pain threshold (PPT) was higher in CA trial at Post-ex2h; (3) Compared with CW, CA trial was more beneficial for reducing the feeling of fatigue during the 4-h’s short term recovery; (4) In CA trial, cortisol concentration reduced at Post-ex4h
Summary
Prolonged strenuous exercise elicits a series of hemostatic alternations including metabolite accumulation (Tanaka et al, 1983), muscle glycogen depletion (Ivy et al, 2002), and muscle damage (Saunders et al, 2004). Those responses may result in muscle pain (Cheung et al, 2003; Dannecker and Koltyn, 2014). In order to maintain hemostasis and facilitate the stress adaptation, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated during exercise (Luger et al, 1987) This results in the increasing concentration of stress hormones, i.e., cortisol (Bachi et al, 2015). Inappropriate or inadequate recovery during the short term interval (2–8 h) may induce a series of negative impacts physiologically and psychologically including constant accumulation of cortisol (Meeusen et al, 2010) and a persistent negative impacts on mood states (e.g., increasing feeling of fatigue and decreasing feeling of vigor) (Lane and Wilson, 2011)
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