Abstract
BACKGROUND: The repeated-sprint ability (RSA) plays a crucial role for determining success in many team sports. Unfortunately, several studies hypothesized that strenuous exercise could cause functional disorders or even some pathologies. These constraints are often associated to different physiological and metabolic disturbances that may reduce the sportive performance or even stop the activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the metabolic, immune and inflammatory responses to a repeated sprint test in trained subjects using a FT-IR spectrometry determination.
METHODS: Eleven male football players were required to perform six sprints of six seconds each with 24 seconds of recovery between repetitions. Two blood samples were collected, before and immediately after effort, and 19 parameters related to metabolic, immune and inflammatory responses were assessed by FT-IR spectrometry.
RESULTS: This study reported that the total work was positively correlated to the VO2max of subjects (r=0.74; P<0.05) and the lactate concentration (r=0.64; P<0.05). Our results noted also that glucose, lactate, protein, transferrin, Apo-Al, Apo-B, IgG, C-reactive protein, haptoglobin and orosomucoid concentrations increased; however, IgA and IgM concentrations decreased after multiple sprints (P<0.001 for lactate, and P<0.05 for the rest). No significant changes were noted in cholesterol, amino acids and albumin concentrations.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data noted that the ability to sprint repeatedly with a short time interval of rest is related to the aerobic system's ability to resynthesize energy, and eliminate lactate during rest periods. Unfortunately, RSA-Test is often associated with different physiological and metabolic disturbances that may lead to a transit immuno-depressive period, and an inflammatory status.