Back to Journals » Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine » Volume 4

Long-term quercetin supplementation reduces lipid peroxidation but does not improve performance in endurance runners

Authors Scholten S, Sergeev I

Received 27 October 2012

Accepted for publication 24 January 2013

Published 12 March 2013 Volume 2013:4 Pages 53—61

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S39632

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Shane D Scholten,1 Igor N Sergeev2

1Department of Natural Sciences, University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD, USA; 2Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of chronic quercetin supplementation on endurance performance and antioxidant status in long distance runners. We hypothesized that an improved antioxidant status can be associated with enhanced performance.
Methods: During 6 weeks of supplementation utilizing a double blind, randomized design, young male subjects received quercetin (1000 mg/day) or placebo while maintaining their current training schedules.
Results: Following the end of the supplementation period, there was a significant time × supplement interaction for serum malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of lipid peroxidation. There were no significant pre- to post-supplement changes in parameter values employed for measuring total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase activity, and protein oxidation (protein carbonyl) in serum. There were also no significant pre- to post-supplement differences in VO2peak, running economy, heart rate, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during the 10 km time trial.
Conclusion: The findings obtained indicate that there is a relationship between quercetin supplementation and the statistically significant decreasing trend in MDA levels following 6 weeks of supplementation and training. This evidence suggests that quercetin can reduce oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation). However, performance improvements were not significant (as measured by VO2peak, running economy, heart rate, and RPE).

Keywords: quercetin, antioxidant capacity, oxygen consumption, running economy, exercise performance

Creative Commons License © 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.