The Effect of Exercise on Urinary Gamma-Glutamyltransferase and Protein Levels in Elite Female Karate Athletes

Purpose: post exercise proteinuria and increased urinary gamma-glutamyl transferase (ggt) levels can be indicative of exercise-induced renal damage. the aim of this investigation is to study the effect of one session of intensive training on renal damage markers and compare their values to those 6 hours after training. methods: in this cross-sectional study with pre- and post-test design, 10 elite volunteer female athletes were selected and participated in one training session (2 hours). urine samples were collected before training, one hour after training, and 6 hours after training. urinary protein (pr), creatinine (cr), and ggt values were measured through laboratory methods and then pr/cr and ggt/cr ratios were computed. results: there were significant differences between values of protein, ggt and creatinine in the three sampling phases (p<0.05). however, no significant differences were observed between values for ggt/cr and pr/cr ratio. there were significant differences between the mean values of creatinine, protein and ggt within pre-exercise and 1 hour post-exercise and within 1 hour post- exercise and 6 hours post-exercise (p<0.05). conclusion: it seems that a session of karate training does not result in renal damage and athletes can continue training after 6 hours.