The Effects of Grape Seed Extract Supplementation on Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress in Young Untrained Males

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acute aerobic exercise and 14-days grape seed extract supplementation on total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, and muscle cell damage biomarkers in untrained males. Materials and Methods: In a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled study, twenty-two male students (age 19±1 years, weight 67.44±7 kg, BMI 22±2, V̇O2max 39±2 ml/kg-1/min-1) were randomly assigned to two groups of grape seed extract and placebo (PLA) (GSE: 200 mg/day for two weeks). After subsequent 14-days of supplementation, subjects did a single session of aerobic exercise (running) on the treadmill at 75% VO2max for 30 minutes. Blood samples were taken 3 times: prior to supplementation (baseline), 14-days after supplementation, and immediately after exercise (post-exercise). Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lactate were measured. TAC was determined by ABTs method. The collected data were then analyzed by running analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measure and Bonferroni post-hoc tests as appropriate using SPSS17 at p<0.05. Results: Malondialdehyde, CK, LDH, Lactate were significantly increased after aerobic exercise (p<0.05). Short-term GSE supplementation significantly prevented MDA and CK cascade after exercise compared to PLA (p<0.05) but, it had no significant effect on basal parameters (p>0.05). The exercise had also no significant effect on total antioxidant capacity in any of the groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: Aerobic exercise could increase blood oxidative stress biomarkers and GSE supplementation, due to the influential antioxidant effect; yet, it could attenuate exercise-induced oxidative stress in men.