Quercetin Supplementation Improves Neuromuscular Function Recovery from Muscle Damage
What this study found
Quercetin supplementation improved recovery after eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. Compared with placebo, quercetin significantly attenuated strength loss, with MVIC differences at POST (p = 0.035), 24 h (p = 0.015), 72 h (p = 0.002), and 96 h (p = 0.026), and preserved muscle fiber conduction velocity at POST (p = 0.034), 24 h (p = 0.019), and 96 h (p = 0.048). Functional torque recovery was also better with quercetin at POST and later time points, while CK differed at 48 h and 72 h (p = 0.035 and p = 0.021) and LDH was lower with quercetin than placebo from 24 h through 96 h (p <…
- Study & population
- In the active quercetin arm, 16 healthy young men participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial after an eccentric exercise protocol designed to induce muscle damage.
- Intervention
- Quercetin was given orally as 2 capsules containing 500 mg quercetin aglycone each, for a total dose of 1000 mg/day taken twice daily (500 mg every 12 h) for 14 days.
- Key limitation
- The active quercetin arm was small and limited to healthy young men, which reduces generalizability.
View source
Open PDFOriginal abstract
This study was aimed at investigating whether quercetin (Q) may improve the recovery of neuromuscular function and biochemical parameters in the 7 days following an eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage (EEIMD). Sixteen men (25.9 ± 3.3 y) ingested Q (1000 mg/day) or placebo (PLA) for 14 days following a double-blind crossover study design. A neuromuscular (NM) test was performed pre–post, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h and 7 days after an intense eccentric exercise. The force–velocity relationship of the elbow flexor muscles and their maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) were recorded simultaneously to the electromyographic signals (EMG). Pain, joint angle, arm circumference, plasma creatine kinase (CK) and lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH) were also assessed. The results showed that Q supplementation significantly attenuated the strength loss compared to PLA. During the recovery, force–velocity relationship and mean fibers conduction velocity (MFCV) persisted significantly less when participants consumed PLA rather than Q, especially at the highest angular velocities (p < 0.02). A greater increase in biomarkers of damage was also evident in PLA with respect to Q. Q supplementation for 14 days seems able to ameliorate the recovery of eccentric exercise-induced weakness, neuromuscular function impairment and biochemical parameters increase probably due to its strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action.