Şenay Koparan Sahin
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of repetitive swim training on oxidative stress, antioxidant system and inflammatory response in juvenile swimmers. Ten young male swimmers (12.7 ± 0.4 years old) and 19 young female swimmers (12.1 ± 0.3 years old) were included in the study. Swimmers prepared for the races by participating in a sixteen-week training program. Blood samples were obtained at three time points during swim exercise: at the beginning of the training season (before training), after eight weeks of training, and at sixteen weeks of training. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Child swimmers experienced greater oxidative stress after exhaustive exercise than untrained subjects as shown by increased NO levels, protein carbonyls, and increased plasma and erythrocyte TBARS levels, as well as decreased protein sulfhydrils in plasma and blood; (2) GSH levels and SOD activity increased significantly, while GSH-Px activity was significantly lower after swimming exercise; and (3) IL-6, IL-8, Hsp-72, and CRP expression levels were elevated in response to repetitive swimming exercise. In conclusion, these findings suggest that swimming training leads to increased oxidative damage and inflammatory response in juvenile swimmers. It remains to be determined how oxidative damage and inflammatory response may be connected under these training conditions in juvenile swimmers.
