Time Course of Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Muscle Damage Markers for 5 Days After a Soccer Match: Effects of Sex and Playing Position.

Souglis, A, Bogdanis, GC, Chryssanthopoulos, C, Apostolidis, N, and Geladas, ND. Time course of oxidative stress, inflammation and muscle damage markers for 5 days after a soccer match: Effects of sex and playing position. J Strength Cond Res 32(7): 2045-2054, 2018-This study examined the influence of sex and playing position on the time course of selected oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage markers after an official soccer match. Sixty professional soccer players (30 men and 30 women) were divided into 3 groups, according to their playing position: defenders, midfielders, and attackers. Each group consisted of 10 male and 10 female players. Sixty healthy volunteers (30 men and 30 women) served as control. Blood samples were taken before and after the match and daily for 5 days after the match. Analysis of variance revealed different responses over time between sex and playing positions, as shown by the 3-way interaction, for creatine kinase (CK), protein carbonyls (PCs), catalase, fibrinogen, uric acid (UA), lactate dehydrogenase, reduced glutathione, C-reactive protein, and interleukin 6 (p < 0.01). Male players had higher values compared with women of the same playing position, for all oxidative, inflammatory, and muscle damage indices (p < 0.01). Also, in both sexes, midfielders had higher peaks in all indices compared with defenders (p < 0.05). Five days after the game CK and UA concentrations had not returned to pregame levels in any exercise group, whereas PCs were still elevated in male midfielders and attackers (p < 0.05). These results show that sex and playing position influence the time course of selected oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage markers after an official soccer game. This information should be taken into account by practitioners for the design of training programs after match play.