Curcumin Improves Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and Postexercise Lactate Accumulation

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant baseline characteristics and clinical measures, mean ± SD.

	Curcumin (n = 13)	Placebo (n = 14)
Age (yrs)	26 ± 5	26 ± 4
Height (m)	1.84 ± 0.07	1.80 ± 0.10
Weight (kg)	86.42 ± 10.81	83.27 ± 14.87
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	25.51 ± 2.25	25.61 ± 2.77
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	121.85 ± 15.74	124.00 ± 10.25
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	73.00 ± 11.22	74.64 ± 10.65
Waist circumference (cm)	85.6 ± 5.5	87.1 ± 9.2
Hip circumference (cm)	103.2 ± 6.1	102.0 ± 7.3
Waist to hip ratio	0.83 ± 0.03	0.85 ± 0.05

Figure 1. Pain Visual Analogue Scale (mm) in curcumin and placebo groups at all timepoints. “*” denotes difference between groups, “a” denotes difference from baseline (curcumin), "b" denotes difference from baseline (placebo), “c” denotes difference from postexercise (curcumin), “d” denotes difference from postexercise (placebo) (p < 0.05).

Figure 2. Thigh circumference (cm)—adjusted means ± SD. “*” denotes significant difference between groups (p < 0.05).

Figure 3. Capillary lactate (mmol/L)—adjusted means ± SD. “*” denotes significant difference between groups (p < 0.05).

Table 2. Muscle damage and inflammation plasma biomarkers, mean ± SD.

	Group	Baseline	Postexercise	1-h PE	Time point 2-h PE	3-h PE	24-h PE	48-h PE	72-h PE
CK (U/L)	Curcumin	278.6 ± 144.3	307.8 ± 161.1	295.9 ± 138.8	293.7 ± 138.8	329.1 ± 147.8	380.3 ± 166.1	348.5 ± 249.4	285.4 ± 125.0
	Placebo	180.4 ± 90.6	203.5 ± 105.7	196.3 ± 100.5	203.9 ± 96.8	231.6 ± 107.2	260.8 ± 99.9	225.5 ± 88.0	211.0 ± 138.3
LDH (U/L)	Curcumin	178.2 ± 45.8	212.0 ± 66.0	191.0 ± 59.8	164.4 ± 29.8	176.7 ± 53.4	162.8 ± 46.4	157.8 ± 19.7	165.4 ± 26.3
	Placebo	181.5 ± 29.7	210.6 ± 44.2	184.2 ± 61.2	202.1 ± 85.6	200.8 ± 84.4	161.6 ± 24.2	177.9 ± 31.5	172.9 ± 22.2
Mb (ng/mL)	Curcumin	78.4 ± 26.1	103.4 ± 46.5	155.7.1 ± 76.6	145.6 ± 68.1	156.0 ± 83.2	107.6 ± 78.7	87.7 ± 41.7	79.4 ± 13.2
	Placebo	78.3 ± 19.3	108.7 ± 31.9	152.2 ± 54.9	135.9 ± 42.0	151.1 ± 68.3	85.8 ± 22.7	81.7 ± 33.4	78.2 ± 22.0
hs-CRP (mg/L)	Curcumin	0.6 ± 0.4	0.6 ± 0.5	0.6 ± 0.4	0.5 ± 0.5	0.6 ± 0.5	0.6 ± 0.4	0.5 ± 0.4	0.5 ± 0.5
	Placebo	1.3 ± 0.9	1.3 ± 0.9	1.2 ± 0.8	1.1 ± 0.8	1.2 ± 0.8	1.2 ± 1.0	1.2 ± 0.8	1.2 ± 1.0
IL-10 (pg/mL)	Curcumin	12.1 ± 10.1	20.1 ± 31.6	17.0 ± 17.2	15.9 ± 17.4	15.9 ± 16.8	13.5 ± 10.7*	14.4 ± 12.0	12.2 ± 11.6
	Placebo	10.1 ± 22.0	31.6 ± 24.0	17.2 ± 21.8	17.4 ± 17.2	16.8 ± 17.6	10.7 ± 11.1	12.0 ± 11.6	11.7 ± 10.0
IL-6 (pg/mL)	Curcumin	12.0 ± 9.4	12.2 ± 9.1	10.4 ± 7.2*	11.6 ± 8.1	11.7 ± 7.6	11.4 ± 7.2*	10.8 ± 7.0	10.6 ± 7.5*
	Placebo	9.4 ± 4.9	9.1 ± 4.3	7.2 ± 3.7	8.1 ± 3.7	7.6 ± 3.8	7.2 ± 3.9	7.0 ± 3.7	7.5 ± 3.4
TNF-α (pg/mL)	Curcumin	8.0 ± 5.5	9.2 ± 7.2	7.3 ± 4.5	7.7 ± 4.6	7.5 ± 3.4	8.4 ± 4.1	7.2 ± 3.5	7.4 ± 3.5
	Placebo	5.5 ± 3.7	7.2 ± 3.1	4.5 ± 2.4	4.6 ± 3.5	3.4 ± 3.1	4.1 ± 2.6	3.5 ± 1.9	3.5 ± 2.3

CK, creatine kinase; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; Mb, myoglobin; hs-CRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL-10, interleukin-10; IL-6, interleukin-6; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-alpha; PE, postexercise.

* Significantly different to placebo (p < 0.05).

Table 3. Biomechanical output from leg press exercise, mean ± SD.

	Group	Set (% 1RM)
		1 (80%)	2 (80%)	3 (80%)	4 (80%)	Performance set (70%)
Average power of set (Watts)	Curcumin	931.44 ± 300.25	935.70 ± 267.33	1030.20 ± 393.54*	761.10 ± 334.10	920.40 ± 207.59
	Placebo	866.67 ± 245.70	840.25 ± 251.74	718.83 ± 248.54	649.11 ± 242.45	872.90 ± 257.46
Average leg press sled velocity (ms^-1)	Curcumin	0.34 ± 0.10	0.34 ± 0.07	0.34 ± 0.09	0.27 ± 0.09	0.37 ± 0.06
	Placebo	0.31 ± 0.07	0.30 ± 0.08	0.26 ± 0.08	0.24 ± 0.08	0.35 ± 0.11
Repetitions (n)	Curcumin	16 ± 4	11 ± 2	9 ± 2	8 ± 3	24 ± 8
	Placebo	18 ± 6	11 ± 3	9 ± 3	8 ± 3	25 ± 8

* Significantly difference to placebo (p < 0.05).