Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

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Introduction and purpose: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of acute glutamine supplementation along with intermittent exercise on Hsp70 and blood lactate response of club football players. Methodology: 32 players of the Tehran Railway team were selected and randomly divided into four groups: control, supplement, supplement-sports activity, and sports-activity. Subjects participated in daily exercises before conducting the study, and only two complementary groups - sports activity and sports activity - performed the periodic protocol. Blood samples were taken at baseline, pre-test, post-test and 90 minutes after the test. The supplement and placebo were consumed in an amount of 0.5 g/kgBW and a volume of 5 ml/kgBW one hour before the periodic protocol. The interval protocol included 3 stages of 20-minute running with an intensity of 80% of the maximum heart rate and a 5-minute rest of walking between the stages. HSP72 and blood lactate levels were measured using ELISA and enzymatic methods, respectively. The data were analyzed using the analysis of variance test with repeated measures and the between-group factor at the P≤0.05 level. Findings: Glutamine supplement alone and together with exercise stimulate the response of HSP72 and the combination of supplement and exercise leads to a greater response of HSP72 and lactate changes did not play a role in this response. Discussion and conclusion: It seem that taking glutamine supplements in the long term creates more adaptations, which of course should be studied.
 

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Introduction: Blood flow restriction (BFR) has been shown to induce local hypoxia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of BFR-induced hypoxia on the angiogenic response to high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE). Methods: Thirty active young men (age =25.6±3.4) were randomly assigned to three groups (n=10 each): control, high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), and high-intensity interval exercise with blood flow restriction (HIIE+BFR). The HIIE protocol consisted of 5 sets of 5×30-second high-intensity running intervals with 30-second rest periods. BFR was applied at 60% of each individual's optimal occlusion pressure in the lower limbs. Serum levels of VEGF, HIF-1α, MMP-9, and MMP-2 were measured as angiogenic markers. Statistical analysis was performed using ANCOVA with LSD post-hoc test, with the significance level set at α=0.05. Results: The data revealed that compared to both the control and HIIE groups, the HIIE+BFR group showed significantly greater increases in serum VEGF and HIF-1α levels (P=0.002 and P=0.019, respectively). However, no significant differences were observed among groups for MMP-9 and MMP-2 levels (P=0.318 and P=0.101, respectively). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that combining HIIE with BFR can enhance the angiogenic response through increased VEGF and HIF-1α levels, but does not significantly affect MMP-2 and MMP-9. These findings support the notion that BFR-induced local hypoxia may serve as a complementary stimulus for improving vascular adaptations.