Fish oil supplementation fails to modulate indices of muscle damage and muscle repair during acute recovery from eccentric exercise in trained young males.

ABSTRACT

We aimed to investigate the influence of 4-wk of fish oil (FO) supplementation on markers of muscle damage, inflammation, muscle soreness, and muscle function during acute recovery from eccentric exercise in moderately trained males. Sixteen moderately-trained males ingested 5 g/d of FO (n = 8) or soybean oil (placebo) capsules (n = 8) for 4-wk prior to- and 3-d following an acute eccentric exercise bout. Eccentric exercise consisted of 12 sets of isokinetic knee extension and knee flexion. Indices of muscle damage, soreness, function and inflammation were measured at baseline and during exercise recovery. Eccentric exercise elicited an increase in muscle soreness (p < 0.010) and thigh volume (p < 0.001), and reduced peak isometric torque by 31.7 ± 6.9%, (p < 0.05, 95% CI 10.6-52.8) during 3-d of recovery. Blood omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration was 14.9 ± 2.4% higher in FO than PLA (p < 0.01, 95% CI 9.8-20.1). However, FO did not ameliorate the cumulative creatine kinase response (expressed as AUC; p = 0.368), inflammation (p = 0.400), muscle soreness (p > 0.140), or muscle function (p > 0.249) following eccentric exercise. FO supplementation confers no clear benefit in terms of ameliorating the degree of muscle damage, or facilitating the muscle repair process, during acute eccentric exercise recovery. These data suggest that FO supplementation does not provide an effective nutritional strategy to promote exercise recovery, at least in moderately-trained young men.Abbreviations ANOVA Analysis of variance; AUC Area under curve; CI Confidence interval; CK Creatine kinase; CMJ Countermovement jump; COX Cyclooxygenase; CRP C-reactive protein; DHA Docosahexaenoic acid; DOMS Delayed-onset muscle soreness; EIMD Exercise-induced muscle damage; En% Energy percent; EPA Eicosapentaenoic acid; FO Fish oil; IL-6 Interleukin-6; LDH Lactate dehydrogenase; LOX Lipoxygenase; Mb Myoglobin; mTOR Mechanistic target of rapamycin; PLA Placebo; ROM Range of motion; ROS Reactive oxygen species; SD Standard deviation; SEM Standard error of the mean; TNF-α Tumour necrosis factor alpha; VAS Visual analogue scale; Ω3-PUFA Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; Ω6-PUFA Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acidsHighlightsThe anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, alongside their propensity to incorporate into the muscle phospholipid membrane underpins the idea that fish oil supplementation may attenuate muscle damage and promote muscle repair following eccentric-based exercise.Four weeks of high-dose (5 g/d) fish oil supplementation prior to eccentric exercise failed to attenuate the rise in creatine kinase concentration and muscle soreness during acute exercise recovery in physically-active young men.Future studies are warranted to investigate the efficacy of combining omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with other nutrients (i.e. protein/amino acids) for the promotion of muscle recovery following eccentric-based damaging exercise.