![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
Background
The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of pomegranate juice (POM) supplementation on the levels of selected pro-inflammatory cytokines, hepcidin and markers of iron metabolism in well-trained rowers.
Method
The double-blind placebo-controlled study included 19 members of the Polish Rowing Team. The athletes were randomised into the supplemented group (n = 10), receiving 50 ml of standardised POM daily for two months, or the placebo group (n = 9). The subjects performed a 2000 m test on the rowing ergometer at the start of the project (baseline) and end of follow-up period. Blood samples from the antecubital vein were obtained three times during each trial: prior to the exercise, one minute after the test, and following a 24 h recovery.
Results
The study documented the beneficial effect of supplementation with pomegranate fruit juice on TAC (P < 0.002). During the resting period, TAC level in the supplemented group was significantly higher than in the placebo group (x ± SD, 2.49 ± 0.39 vs. 1.88 ± 0.45, P < 0.05). The ergometric test conducted at baseline demonstrated a significant post-exercise increase in the concentrations of soluble transferrin receptors (P < 0.04), iron (P < 0.002) and IL-6 (P < 0.02), and to a significant post-exercise decrease in TAC. A significant increase in IL-6 concentration was also observed 24 h post-exercise. The exercise test conducted at the end of the follow-up period resulted in a significant decrease in TBIC and a significant increase in UIBC (P < 0.001), observed in both groups, both immediately post-exercise and after the resting period.
Conclusion
Supplementation with POM contributed to a significant strengthening of plasma antioxidant potential in the group of well-trained rowers, but had no effect on iron metabolism markers.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Fund for the Development of Young Scientists for financial support for AU.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author for a reasonable request.
Author contributions
ASS, AU and KA designed the study; PB, AW, KWJ and KA collected the data, AU, EL and ASS interpreted the results and drafted the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the paper.
Funding
This work was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education -Development of Young Scientists.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Experimental procedures and potential risks were discussed with the participants, and informed consent forms were provided and signed prior to inclusion in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and its protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee at Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Decision no. 769/13 of 10 October 2013).
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. The authors declare that the results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.