Synergistic Effect of L-Carnitine and Caffeine Supplements on Physiological Variables Corresponding to Anaerobic Threshold in Elite Male Karate

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

2 Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

3 Department Of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Optimization of positive effects of exogenous supplements on sports performance is very important. The aim of this study was to investigate the Synergistic effectof L-carnitine and caffeine supplements on physiological variables corresponding to anaerobic threshold (AT) in Kerman karate men.
Methodology: Fifteen elite karate athletes performed a progressive standard test following placebo (250 mg Lactose), caffeine (5 mg/kg), L-carnitine (3 g), and caffeine and L-carnitine (5 mg/kg, 3 g) consumption in four sessions separated by one-week intervals. Blood sample was collected before supplement consumption and immediately after exercise. Respiratory gases were measured throughout the test. Heart rate and oxygen consumption corresponding to AT were determined, and compared among trials by repeated measures analysis of variance.
Results: End test values of plasma fatty acid (FFA) and its changes during exercise in caffeine and combined trial were significantly higher than those values in the control trial (both p <0.05), but plasma triglyceride levels were not significantly different between trials. The workload and oxygen (O2) corresponding to AT were significantly higher in the caffeine and combined trials compared to the values found in the control trials (all p <0.05). There was no significant difference regarding other variables among trials. Simultaneous consumption of caffeine and L-carnitine improved the values of O2 (11 vs. 17%) and workload (12 vs. 21) corresponding to AT compared to caffeine consumption alone, although there was no significant difference between groups.
Conclusion: Caffeine consumption can improve endurance performance through increasing fatty acid availability and this effect could be exacerbated by simultaneous consumption of L-carnitine.

Keywords


##Bangsbo J, Mohr M, Poulsen A, Perez-Gomez J, Krustrup P. Training and testing the elite athlete. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2006;4(1):1-14.##Sachan DS, Hongu N. Increases in VO2max and metabolic markers of fat oxidation by caffeine, carnitine, and choline supplementation in rats. The Journal of nutritional biochemistry. 2000;11(10):521-26.##Yoshida T, Udo M, Iwai K, Yamaguchi T. Physiological characteristics related to endurance running performance in female distance runners. Journal of Sports Sciences. 1993;11(1):57-62.##Leelarungrayub J, Pinkaew D, Klaphajone J, Eungpinichpong W, R B. Effects of L-Carnitine Supplementation on Metabolic Utilization of Oxygen and Lipid Profile among Trained and Untrained Humans. Asian J Sports Med. 2017;8(1):1-10.##Hashemi A, Dabidi Roshan V. Relationship of bronchodilator response with oxygen pulse and ventilatory threshold in children with asthma: the effect of body composition and progressive aerobic activity in an environment with low humidity. ISMJ. 2015;18(5):930-43.##Siliprandi N, Di Lisa F, Menabó R. Clinical use of carnitine past, present and future.  Cirrhosis, hepatic encephalopathy, and ammonium toxicity. Springer. 1990;272(2); 175-81.##Panjwani U, Thakur L, Anand JP, Singh SN, Singh SB, Banerjee PK. Effect of L-carnitine supplementation on endurance exercise in normobaric/normoxic and hypobaric/hypoxic conditions. Wilderness & environmental medicine. 2007;18(3):169-76.##Seim H, Kiess W, Richter T. Effects of oral L-carnitine supplementation on in vivo long-chain fatty acid oxidation in healthy adults. Metabolism-Clinical and Experimental. 2002;51(11):1389-91.##Fujisawa K, Takami T, Fukui Y, Quintanilha LF, Matsumoto T, Yamamoto N, et al. Evaluating effects of L-carnitine on human bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Cell and tissue research. 2017;368(2):301-10.##Ferreira GC, McKenna MC. l-Carnitine and Acetyl-l-carnitine Roles and Neuroprotection in Developing Brain. Neurochemical research. 2017;42(6):1661-75.##van Loon LJ, Greenhaff PL, Constantin‐Teodosiu D, Saris WH, Wagenmakers AJ. The effects of increasing exercise intensity on muscle fuel utilisation in humans. The Journal of physiology. 2001;536(1):295-304.##Roepstorff C, Halberg N, Hillig T, Saha AK, Ruderman NB, Wojtaszewski JF, et al. Malonyl-CoA and carnitine in regulation of fat oxidation in human skeletal muscle during exercise. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2005;288(1):133-42.##Brass EP. Pivalate-generating prodrugs and carnitine homeostasis in man. Pharmacological reviews. 2002;54(4):589-98.##Jankowski-Wilkinson AF. The Effects of Caffeine Gum Administration on Reaction Time and Lower Body Pain During Cycling to Exhaustion. University of Akron. 2008.##Damirchi A, Rahmani-nia F, Mirzaei B, Hasan-Nia S, Ebrahimi M. Effect of caffeine on blood pressure during exercise and at rest in overweight men. Iranian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2009;10(6):623-63.##Beck TW, Housh TJ, Schmidt RJ, Johnson GO, Housh DJ, Coburn JW, et al. The acute effects of a caffeine-containing supplement on strength, muscular endurance, and anaerobic capabilities. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2006;20(3):506-10.##Russell MD. The effect of caffeine gum administration on blood glucose and blood lactate during cycling to exhaustion. University of Akron. 2008.##Bell DG, Jacobs I, Ellerington K. Effect of caffeine and ephedrine ingestion on anaerobic exercise performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2001;33(8):403-99.##Ryu S, Choi S-K, JoUNG S-S, Suh H, Cha Y-S, Lee S, et al. Caffeine as a lipolytic food component increases endurance performance in rats and athletes. Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology. 2001;47(2):139-46.##Bridge C, Jones M. The effect of caffeine ingestion on 8 km run performance in a field setting. Journal of sports sciences. 2006;24(4):433-9.##O’Rourke MP, O’Brien BJ, Knez WL, Paton CD. Caffeine has a small effect on 5-km running performance of well-trained and recreational runners. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2008;11(2):231-3.##Cohen BS, Nelson AG, Prevost MC, Thompson GD, Marx BD, Morris GS. Effects of caffeine ingestion on endurance racing in heat and humidity. European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology. 1996;73(3-4):358-63.##Umemura T, Ueda K, Nishioka K, Hidaka T, Takemoto H, Nakamura S, et al. Effects of acute administration of caffeine on vascular function. The American journal of cardiology. 2006;98(11):1538-41.##Hassanli M, R N. prediction of aerobic and anaerobic capacity from lactate relative change during ioscapnic buffering phase in elite athletes. Journal of Exercise Physiology and Physical Activity. 2012;11:849-58.  [Persian]##Pallarés JG, Morán-Navarro R, Ortega JF, Fernández-Elías VE, Mora-Rodriguez R. Validity and reliability of ventilatory and blood lactate thresholds in well-trained cyclists. PloS one. 2016;11(9):1-16.##Chwalbińska-Moneta J, Kruk B, Nazar K, Krzemiński K, Kaciuba-Uściłko H, Ziemba A. Early effects of short-term endurance training. Journal of physiology pharmacology. 2005;56(1):87-99.##Maughan R. Nutritional ergogenic aids and exercise performance. Nutrition research reviews. 1999;12(2):255-80.##Martin 3rd W, Dalsky G, Hurley B, Matthews D, Bier D, Hagberg J, et al. Effect of endurance training on plasma free fatty acid turnover and oxidation during exercise. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology Metabolism-Clinical Experimental. 1993;265(5): 708-14.##Spiering BA, Kraemer WJ, Vingren JL, Hatfield DL. Responses of criterion variables to different supplemental doses of L-carnitine L-tartrate. Journal of Strength Conditioning Research. 2007;21(1):259.##Reilly T. The menstrual cycle and human performance: an overview. Biological rhythm research. 2000;31(1):29-40.##Brutsaert TD, Spielvogel H, Caceres E, Araoz M, Chatterton RT, Vitzthum VJ. Effect of menstrual cycle phase on exercise performance of high-altitude native women at 3600 m. Journal of experimental biology. 2002;205(2):233-39.##Maughan RJ, Gleeson M, Greenhaff PL. Biochemistry of exercise and training. Oxford University Press, USA. 1997.##McClaran SR, Wetter TJ. Low doses of caffeine reduce heart rate during submaximal cycle ergometry. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2007;4(1):11.##Murosaki S, Lee TR, Muroyama K, Shin ES, Cho SY, Yamamoto Y, et al. A combination of caffeine, arginine, soy isoflavones, and L-carnitine enhances both lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation in 3T3-L1 and HepG cells in vitro and in KK mice in vivo. The Journal of nutrition. 2007;137(10):2252-7.##Broad EM, Maughan RJ, Galloway SD. Effects of four weeks L-carnitine L-tartrate ingestion on substrate utilization during prolonged exercise. International journal of sport nutrition exercise metabolism. 2005;15(6):665-79.##Wyss V, Ganzit G, Rienzi A. Effects of L-carnitine administration on Vo2 max and the aerobic-anaerobic threshold in normoxia and acute hypoxia. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 1990;60(1):1-6.##Broad EM, Maughan RJ, Galloway SDJIjosn. Carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism during exercise after oral carnitine supplementation in humans. nternational Journal of Sport Nutrition Exercise Metabolism. 2008;1(6):567-84.##Galloway SD, Craig TP, Cleland SJ. Effects of oral L-carnitine supplementation on insulin sensitivity indices in response to glucose feeding in lean and overweight/obese males. Amino acids. 2011;41(2):507-15.##Soop M, Bjorkman O, Cederblad G, Hagenfeldt L, Wahren J. Influence of carnitine supplementation on muscle substrate and carnitine metabolism during exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1988;64(6):2394-9.##