The effects of a multi-ingredient supplement on markers of muscle damage and inflammation following downhill running in females

Background: the effects of a multi-ingredient performance supplement (mips) on markers of inflammation and muscle damage,perceived soreness and lower limb performance are unknown in endurance-trained female athletes. the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of mips (no-shotgun®) pre-loaded 4 weeks prior to a single-bout of downhill running (dhr) on hsc-reactive protein (hscrp),interleukin (il)-6,creatine kinase (ck),muscle soreness,lower limb circumferences and performance. method: trained female runners (n = 8; 29 ± 5.9 years) (vo2max: ≥ 50 ml-1.kg-1.min-1,midfollicular phase (7-11 days post-menses) were randomly assigned in a double-blind manner into two groups: mips (n = 4) ingested one serving of no shotgun daily for 28 days prior to dhr and 30 min prior to all post-testing visits; control (con) (n = 4) consumed an isocaloric maltodextrin placebo in an identical manner to mips. hscrp,il-6,ck,perceived soreness,limb circumferences,and performance measures (flexibility,squat jump peak power) were tested on 5 occasions; immediately before (pre),immediately post-dhr,24,48 and 72 h post-dhr. results: there were main effects of time for ck (p = 0.05),pain pressure threshold (right tibialis anterior (p = 0.010),right biceps femoris (p = 0.01),and left iliotibial band (itb) (p = 0.05) across all time points),and maximum squat jump power (p = 0.04). compared with 24 h post-dhr,maximum squat jump power was significantly lower at 48 h post-dhr (p = 0.05). lower body perceived soreness was significantly increased at 24 h (p = 0.02) and baseline to 48 h (p = 0.02) post dhr. il-6 peaked immediately post-dhr (p = 0.03) and hscrp peaked at 24 h post-dhr (p = 0.06). calculation of effect sizes indicated a moderate attenuation of hscrp in mips at 72 h post-dhr. conclusions: consumption of mips for 4 weeks prior to a single bout of dhr attenuated inflammation three days post,but did not affect perceived soreness and muscle damage markers in endurance trained female runners following a single bout of dhr. © 2016 the author(s).