Exercise-induced immune responses and the influence of dietary antioxidant supplementation

Intense, unaccustomed exercise is documented to result in muscle damage and transient immune perturbation. Strenuous exercise is considered to generate free radicals and confers an oxidative stress burden on the body, supplementary to that of the normal in vivo metabolism. Excessive amounts of free radicals can cause cellular and tissue damage and are implicated in the manifestations of muscle damage in the post-exercise period. A further consequence of intense exercise is the initiation of an immune and inflammatory response during and post-exercise. Whilst these processes are vital for normal immune function, an exaggerated response can exacerbate cell damage and be self-propagating. One route to modulating these responses is by intervention with antioxidants. Boosting of the existing antioxidant defences is hypothesised to provide additional protection against free radical damage. The series of investigations presented within this thesis attempt to provide further elucidation of the proposed role of antioxidants on post-exercise responses. [Continues.]