EFFECTS OF CRACKED PINE-POLLEN INTAKE ON EXERCISE-INDUCED MUSCLE DAMAGE

Abstract

It has been suggestes in the berbal medical literature of ancient China that pine-pollen supplementation is an effective treatment for acute muscle injury, but its effect on exercise-induced muscle damage is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cracked pine-pollen supplementation on the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. Eleven males (aged 25.4 ± 2.0 years) were assigned to a control group (CON; n = 5) or a cracked pine-pollen supplemenation group (PP; n = 6). After performing a bout of damage-inducing heavy exercise (15 sets of 15 maximal repetitions at 120°/sec of the knee extension and flexion on an isokinetic dynamometer) PP ingested 20 g cracked pine-pollan per day for 4 days. Blood samples were collected via the antecubital vein using a heprain lock procedure. Blood samples were drawn after a 12-h fast prior to exercise (Pre), and at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 96 h after exercise. CON subjects received the same exercise treatment as PP, but they did not receive pine-pollen treatments. In CON, plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity was significantly elevated until 5 days after the isokinetic knee exercise. CK activity in PP was only significantly increased untill 24 h after the exercise bout, and then significantly reduced. Plasma cortisol response in CON was significantly elevated during the recovery period, but it in PP was not significantly changed. Resting plasma triglyceride and insulin levels in PP were significantly elevated after the pine-pollen consumption. The preliminary results of this study suggested that cracked pine-pollen consumption significantly reduced plasma CK activity and cortisol levels, but elevated resting plasma triglycerides and insulin concentrations. Therefore, further research is needed to investigate the ergogenic effects of cracked pine-pollen consumption in exercise-induced muscle damage.