KEY POINTS • Nitric oxide (NO) is vitally important in human physiology and it modulates many of the processes that are essential to exercise performance. • Recent evidence indicates that NO availability can be enhanced by dietary supplementation with inorganic nitrate which is abundant in green leafy vegetables and beetroot. • Dietary nitrate supplementation with 5-7 mmol nitrate (~0.1 mmol/kg...

BACKGROUND There is an interaction between oxidative equilibrium and anti-oxidants in oxidative stress. Therefore, oxidative stress has an effect on intercellular oxidation and causes atrophy and is an underlying factor in many diseases. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of running downhill and the short-term effect of caffeine supplementation on oxidative stress ...

Selenoproteins such as glutathione peroxidases (GPx), thioredoxin reductases (TrxR), and selenoprotein P (SePP) contain molecular selenium in form of selenocysteines within their active center. They are involved in the defense of reactive oxygen species, which otherwise may cause DNA damage and alterations of protein function. Selenium intake has been linked to colon carcinogenesis in epidemiol...

The use of fructose-containing sports beverage drinks has increased in recent years, especially at sport events, because of their reported ergogenic effects. However, the ingestion of low to moderate doses of caffeinated energy drinks has been associated with adverse side effects such as insomnia or increased nervousness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of fructose beve...

BACKGROUND High concentration of glucose in culture medium affects the developmental process and the quality of the pre-implantation embryo. This study examined the effects of Zuogui Wan (ZGW) supplementation on early embryo development cultured in high-glucose medium. METHODS Embryos were cultured in high-glucose medium with or without ZGW supplementation. Developmental rate and competence w...

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of short-term (7 days) N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at 1,200 mg daily supplementation on muscle fatigue, maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lactate, creatine kinase (CK), and tumor necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α). Twenty-nine sedentary men (13 controls; 16 in the supplement group) from a randomized control were included. At ...

1. Oral creatine supplementation has been shown to increase muscle creatine and phosphocreatine concentrations with consequent benefits on performance during short-term maximal exercise. However, recently there have been anecdotal reports that creatine supplementation can also influence the pattern of substrate utilization and improve performance during more prolonged, submaximal exercise, whic...

Background: Oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant levels have been projected as a potential factors involved in the pathophysiology of diverse male infertility types, including asthenospermia. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the male reproductive tract has become an actual concern because of their probable noxious effects, at high levels, on physical properties of sperm ...

Oxygen supplementation is a standard treatment for all patients who present with acute coronary syndrome, regardless of oxygen saturation levels. Most of the data regarding the function of oxygen in myocardial infarction is based on a limited number of basic and clinical studies. We performed a systematic literature review that explores the basic and clinical data on the function of oxygen in i...