NAC Supplementation and Skeletal Muscle Performance

Skeletal Muscle Damage Clinical Trial

Official title: Effects of NAC Supplementation on Skeletal Muscle Performance Following Aseptic Injury Induced by Exercise

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

In this investigation the investigators utilized NAC administration to foster GSH availability during an 8-day period following eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage in order to test our hypotheses: i) antioxidant supplementation does not disturb performance and adaptations induced by exercise-induced muscle injury and ii) redox status perturbations in skeletal muscle are pivotal for the regulation of muscle' inflammatory response and repair.

Clinical Trial Description

The major thiol-disulfide couple of reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) is a key-regulator of major transcriptional pathways regulating aseptic inflammation and recovery of skeletal muscle following aseptic injury. Antioxidant supplementation may hamper exercise-induced cellular adaptations.

Our objective was to examine how thiol-based antioxidant supplementation affects skeletal muscle's performance and redox-sensitive signalling during the inflammatory and repair phases associated with exercise-induced micro-trauma.In a double-blind, counterbalanced design, 12 men received placebo (PLA) or N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 20 mg/kg/day) following muscle-damaging exercise (300 eccentric contractions). In each trial, muscle performance was measured at baseline, post-exercise, 2h post-exercise and daily for 8 consecutive days. Muscle biopsies from vastus lateralis and blood samples were collected pre-exercise and 2h, 2d, and 8d post-exercise. ;

Study Design

Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Basic Science

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Inflammatory Status
• Intgracellular Signaling in Skeletal Muscle
• Skeletal Muscle Damage
• Skeletal Muscle Performance

• NCT number: NCT01778309
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Democritus University of Thrace
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2010
• Completion date: April 2012