The Effects of Exercise Induced Muscle Damage on Oxidative Stress Indices in Muscle and Blood

Abstract

The main aim of this review is to present the effects of acute muscle-damaging exercise on oxidative stress/damage in animal and human tissues. We reviewed studies that employed the two most frequently used protocols to induce muscle damage: eccentric contractions on a dynamometer and downhill running. Muscle-damaging exercise can increase free radical levels and augment oxidation of lipids, proteins, glutathione and possibly DNA in the blood. Based on the rather limited data available, the skeletal muscle oxidative stress response to exercise was generally independent of muscle fiber type. Despite the disagreements
in the literature, exercise seems to induce oxidative stress and oxidative damage as evidenced in both blood and skeletal muscle. Most of the changes in oxidative stress/damage appeared and sustained for days after muscle-damaging exercise. The major part of the delayed oxidative stress/damage production that follows muscle-damaging exercise probably comes from the activation of phagocytic cells and their recruitment to the site of the initial damage. It is difficult to reach a conclusion as to the probable role of exercise-induced oxidative stress in muscle damage that appears after eccentric exercise. In conclusion, the main finding of the
present review is that muscle-damaging exercise can increase oxidative stress/damage in blood and skeletal muscle of rats and humans. We propose that muscle-damaging exercise should be viewed as a different challenge compared to non-muscle-damaging exercise with regard to their effects on blood and skeletal muscle redox status.