The effects of exercise and fish oil on oxidative stress

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of four weeks of fish oil supplementation and four weeks of fish oil supplementation and exercise training on measures of oxidative stress, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Methods: Twenty-two normal to overweight (BMI=23.0-29.9) individuals (10 males, 12 females) age 18-45y participated in this 4 week intervention study. Subjects were randomly assigned to a fish oil supplementation group (n=10) or a fish oil supplementation and exercise group (n=12). Fish oil supplementation for both groups involved the consumption of 8 gel caplets/day of fish oil supplement (4g/day). Exercise training consisted of 45 min/d, 5d/week of brisk walking or mild jogging at 60% of VO[subscript 2] max. Variables were measured 1) prior to intervention, 2) after an acute exercise bout prior to intervention, 3) after the 4 wk intervention, and 4) after an acute exercise bout following intervention. Results: No significant differences (p [greater than] 0.05) were found between groups after intervention in fasted samples or acute exercise samples for SOD, although there was a trend for a group*time interaction in acute exercise samples (p=0.08). In fasted samples there were no differences between groups for GPx (p [greater than] 0.05) or MPO (p [greater than] 0.05). No differences were observed between groups in MPO (p [greater than] 0.05) or GPx (p [greater than] 0.05) in acute exercise samples. Conclusions: Four weeks of fish oil supplementation alone or fish oil supplementation with exercise training had no effect on systemic oxidative stress markers.