Influence of a montmorency cherry juice blend on indices of exercise-induced stress and upper respiratory tract symptoms following marathon running—a pilot investigation

Abstract

BackgroundProlonged exercise, such as marathon running, has been associated with an increase in respiratory mucosal inflammation. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of Montmorency cherry juice on markers of stress, immunity and inflammation following a Marathon.MethodsTwenty recreational Marathon runners consumed either cherry juice (CJ) or placebo (PL) before and after a Marathon race. Markers of mucosal immunity secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), salivary cortisol, inflammation (CRP) and self-reported incidence and severity of upper respiratory tract symptoms (URTS) were measured before and following the race.ResultsAll variables except secretory IgA and IgG concentrations in saliva showed a significant time effect (P <0.01). Serum CRP showed a significant interaction and treatment effect (P < 0.01). The CRP increase at 24 and 48 h post-Marathon was lower (P < 0.01) in the CJ group compared to PL group. Mucosal immunity and salivary cortisol showed no interaction effect or treatment effect. The incidence and severity of URTS was significantly greater than baseline at 24 h and 48 h following the race in the PL group and was also greater than the CJ group (P < 0.05). No URTS were reported in the CJ group whereas 50 % of runners in the PL group reported URTS at 24 h and 48 h post-Marathon.ConclusionsThis is the first study that provides encouraging evidence of the potential role of Montmorency cherries in reducing the development of URTS post-Marathon possibly caused by exercise-induced hyperventilation trauma, and/or other infectious and non-infectious factors.

Bioactive and functional properties of sour cherry juice (Prunus cerasus)

“…Sour cherry juice is used in sports medicine to prevent muscle damage as some studies have shown that this product is able to prevent these symptoms through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. [24][25][26][27][28][29] Our results confirm the antioxidant potential of sour cherry juice. The protective effects against toxicity induced by hydrogen peroxide were measured using living organisms (Artemia salina).…”

Sports Foods and Dietary Supplements for Optimal Function and Performance Enhancement in Track-and-Field Athletes

“…For instance, food polyphenols possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties (Tsao, 2010) that may be beneficial to exercise recovery. Specifically, the high-anthocyanin content of tart Montmorency cherries is proposed to reduce the inflammatory and oxidative stress responses to strenuous exercise, such as a marathon (Dimitriou et al, 2015;Howatson et al, 2010), or consecutive days of intermittent high-intensity activity (Bell et al, 2014). This may be particularly relevant to the heavy training loads of many high-performance athletes, as well as the competition recovery in multievents in track-and-field athletics or the programs of middledistance runners with heats and finals across several events at major competition.…”

Marathon Race Affects Neutrophil Surface Molecules: Role of Inflammatory Mediators

“…High levels of strenuous exercise decrease both innate and acquired immunity, typically 15–25%, however, remains unclear the role of changes in immunity on upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) susceptibility [1]. The prevalence of upper respiratory tract symptoms (URTS) was 50% in runners of the London marathon race [6]; severity of URTs at 24 h and 48 h following the marathon race was also significantly greater than that at baseline [7]. …”