No Effect of New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract on Recovery of Muscle Damage Following Running a Half-Marathon

Abstract

New Zealand blackcurrant (NZBC) contains anthocyanins, known to moderate blood flow and display anti-inflammatory properties that may improve recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage. The authors examined whether NZBC extract supplementation enhances recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage after a half-marathon race. Following a randomized, double-blind, independent groups design, 20 (eight women) recreational runners (age 30 ± 6 years, height 1.73 ± 0.74 m, body mass 68.5 ± 7.8 kg, half-marathon finishing time 1:56:33 ± 0:18:08 hr:min:s) ingested either two 300-mg/day capsules of NZBC extract (CurraNZ™) or a visually matched placebo, for 7 days prior to and 2 days following a half-marathon. Countermovement jump performance variables, urine interleukin-6, and perceived muscle soreness and fatigue were measured pre, post, and at 24 and 48 hr after the half-marathon and analyzed using a mixed linear model with statistical significance set a priori at p < .05. The countermovement jump performance variables were reduced immediately post-half-marathon (p < .05), with all returning to pre-half-marathon levels by 48 hr, except the concentric and eccentric peak force and eccentric duration, with no difference in response between groups (p > .05). Urine interleukin-6 increased 48-hr post-half-marathon in the NZBC group only (p < .01) and remained unchanged compared with pre-half-marathon levels in the placebo group (p > .05). Perceived muscle soreness and fatigue increased immediately post-half-marathon (p < .01) and returned to pre-half-marathon levels by 48 hr, with no difference between groups (p > .05). Supplementation with NZBC extract had no effect on the recovery of countermovement jump variables and perceptions of muscle soreness or fatigue following a half-marathon in recreational runners.

Changes in Cytokines Concentration Following Long-Distance Running: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Mean running conclusion times were reported in 68% of the studies. In the half-marathon, the mean times varied between 1:30 and 2:12 h (Zaccaria et al, 2002 ; Ng et al, 2008 ; Cox et al, 2010 ; Abbasi et al, 2013 ; Reihmane et al, 2013 ; Niemelä et al, 2016 ; Costello et al, 2020 ; Gaggini et al, 2021 ). In marathons the mean times varied between 2:52 and 4:41 h (Castell et al, 1996 ; Toft et al, 2000 ; Pistilli et al, 2002 ; Henson et al, 2004 ; Howatson et al, 2010 ; Scherr et al, 2011 , 2012 ; Nickel et al, 2012 ; Bernecker et al, 2013 ; Reihmane et al, 2013 ; Santos et al, 2013a , b ; Vaisberg et al, 2013 ; Shanely et al, 2014 ; Vuolteenaho et al, 2014 ; Wilhelm et al, 2014 ; Niemelä et al, 2016 ; Clifford et al, 2017 ; Passos et al, 2019 ; Pugh et al, 2019 ; Sierra et al, 2019a ; Batatinha et al, 2020 ; dos Santos et al, 2020 ; Larsen et al, 2020 ; Sliwicka et al, 2021 ; Tavares-Silva et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The most evaluated cytokine was IL-6 found in 62 studies (Drenth et al, 1995 ; Castell et al, 1996 ; Ostrowski et al, 1998 , 1999 , 2000 ; Neidhart et al, 2000 ; Suzuki et al, 2000 , 2003 ; Toft et al, 2000 ; Nieman et al, 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 ; Starkie et al, 2001 ; Bonsignore et al, 2002 ; Pistilli et al, 2002 ; Uchakin et al, 2003 ; Mastaloudis et al, 2004 ; Miles et al, 2006 ; Kim et al, 2007 ; Siegel et al, 2007 ; Ng et al, 2008 ; Donnikov et al, 2009 ; Cox et al, 2010 ; Howatson et al, 2010 ; Scherr et al, 2011 , 2012 ; Díaz-Castro et al, 2012 ; Nickel et al, 2012 ; Vaisberg et al, 2012 , 2013 ; Abbasi et al, 2013 ; Bernecker et al, 2013 ; Chiu et al, 2013 ; Reihmane et al, 2013 ; Santos et al, 2013a , 2016 ; Shin and Lee, 2013 ; Wilhelm et al, 2014 ; Gill et al, 2015a , b ; Luna Junior et al, 2016 ; Niemelä et al, 2016 ; Zimmer et al, 2016 ; Clifford et al, 2017 ; Passos et al, 2019 ; Pugh et al, 2019 ; Sierra et al, 2019a , b ; Yargic et al, 2019 ; Batatinha et al, 2020 ; Costello et al, 2020 ; dos Santos et al, 2020 ; Kasprowicz et al, 2020 ; Larsen et al, 2020 ; Wołyniec et al, 2020 ...…”

“…One study show a reduction in TNF-α concentration, after marathon running (Santos et al, 2013b ). Nineteen investigations, showed no differences in TNF-α immediately after half-marathon, marathon and ultra-marathon running (Drenth et al, 1995 ; Castell et al, 1996 ; Fehrenbach et al, 2000 ; Bonsignore et al, 2002 ; Suzuki et al, 2003 ; Nieman et al, 2006 ; Kim et al, 2007 ; Ng et al, 2008 ; Nickel et al, 2012 ; Abbasi et al, 2013 ; Reihmane et al, 2013 ; Santos et al, 2013a , 2016 ; Luna Junior et al, 2016 ; Passos et al, 2019 ; Sierra et al, 2019b ; Batatinha et al, 2020 ; Costello et al, 2020 ; Gaggini et al, 2021 ). Regarding the studies that showed an increase in TNF-α levels, such results were observed after half-marathon (Bonsignore et al, 2002 ; Zimmer et al, 2016 ), marathon (Ostrowski et al, 1998 , 1999 ; Neidhart et al, 2000 ; Toft et al, 2000 ; Nieman et al, 2001 ; Starkie et al, 2001 ; Uchakin et al, 2003 ; Scherr et al, 2011 ; Vaisberg et al, 2012 ; Bernecker et al, 2013 ; Wilhelm et al, 2014 ; Clifford et al, 2017 ; dos Santos et al, 2020 ; Larsen et al, 2020 ; Sliwicka et al, 2021 ; Tavares-Silva et al, 2021 ), ultra-marathon with variability of distances between 50 and 230 km (Nieman et al, 2007 ; Díaz-Castro et al, 2012 ; Chiu et al, 2013 ; Gill et al, 2015a , b ; Skinner et al, 2021 ) and in 40 km run (Skinner et al, 2021 ).…”