Comparison of an Antioxidant Source and Antioxidant Plus BCAA on Athletic Performance and Post Exercise Recovery of Horses.

This research paper investigates the impact of different dietary supplements on the post-exercise oxidative stress and muscle protein synthesis in horses. The study found that the regimen of antioxidants plus branched-chain amino acids didn’t provide any significant advantage over a high antioxidant diet alone in improving muscle protein synthesis or reducing oxidative stress.

Research Overview

The focus of this study centers around three types of diets and their effects on post-exercise protein synthesis and oxidative stress in polo horses. The diets compared included:

• A low antioxidant diet (control)
• A high antioxidant diet
• A diet supplemented with a high antioxidant and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)

The researchers hypothesized that a combined diet of antioxidants and BCAAs would lower post-exercise oxidative stress without affecting muscle protein synthesis negatively.

Methodology & Measurements

The researchers conducted the experiment on 18 mixed-breed polo horses, which constituted 11 mares and 7 geldings aged between 5 and 18 years old. The horses were initially kept on the control diet for 30 days, after which they were assigned one of the treatment diets for another 30 days.

The horses underwent lactate threshold tests on days 0, 15, and 30 of the supplementation period. Researchers evaluated oxidative stress by measuring blood concentrations of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde at time intervals before and after each test. Additionally, muscle biopsies were taken from the horses for the analysis of gene expression.

Findings

The researchers observed a reduction in oxidative stress over time from day 0 to day 30. This decrease was measured by a consistent drop in the blood concentrations of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde.

The study found that all lactate threshold tests resulted in an upregulation of muscle protein mRNA transcripts. While treatment did not significantly alter the results for CD36, CPT1, PDK4, MYF5, and MYOG genes, the AO diet showed an upregulation of MYOD1 gene expression post-exercise compared to the other treatments.

Conclusions

The results suggest that a high-antioxidant diet can sufficiently reduce oxidative stress and positively impact muscle protein synthesis in horses. This study did not find any substantial advantage of the combined antioxidant and BCAAs supplementation over the high antioxidant diet alone, indicating that horses could efficiently perform and recover on the latter regime.