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. 2018 Oct 4;51(11):e7702.
doi: 10.1590/1414-431X20187702.

Cryotherapy: biochemical alterations involved in reduction of damage induced by exhaustive exercise

A B V Furtado  1 , D D Hartmann  2 , R P Martins  2 , P C Rosa  2 , I K da Silva  2 , B S L Duarte  1 , L U Signori  1 , F A A Soares  2 , G O Puntel  1   2   3
Affiliations

Cryotherapy: biochemical alterations involved in reduction of damage induced by exhaustive exercise

A B V Furtado et al. Braz J Med Biol Res. .

Abstract

When exercises are done in intense or exhaustive modes, several acute biochemical mechanisms are triggered. The use of cryotherapy as cold-water immersion is largely used to accelerate the process of muscular recovery based on its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. The present study aimed to study the biochemical effects of cold-water immersion treatment in mice submitted to exercise-induced exhaustion. Swiss albino mice were divided into 4 treatment groups: control, cold-water immersion (CWI), swimming exhaustive protocol (SEP), and SEP+CWI. Treatment groups were subdivided into times of analysis: 0, 1, 3, and 5 days. Exhaustion groups were submitted to one SEP session, and the CWI groups submitted to one immersion session (12 min at 12°C) every 24 h. Reactive species production, inflammatory, cell viability, and antioxidant status were assessed. The SEP+CWI group showed a decrease in inflammatory damage biomarkers, and reactive species production, and presented increased cell viability compared to the SEP group. Furthermore, CWI increased acetylcholinesterase activity in the first two sessions. The present study showed that CWI was an effective treatment after exercise-induced muscle damage. It enhanced anti-inflammatory response, decreased reactive species production, increased cell viability, and promoted redox balance, which could decrease the time for the recovery process.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Timeline of the experiments.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) on dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH) levels. Data are reported as means±SD (n=4). *P<0.05 for difference between groups at the same time-point; #P<0.05 for difference between the group at different times (two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test). es: effect size. SEP: swimming exhaustive protocol.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) on acetylcholine iodide (ATC) activity. Data are reported as means±SD (n=4). *P<0.05 compared to control and swimming exhaustive protocol (SEP); #P<0.05 compared to all other groups (two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test). es: effect size
Figure 4
Figure 4. . Effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) on creatine kinase (CK) activity. Data are reported as means±SD (n=5). *P<0.05 compared to the other groups (two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test). es: effect size; SEP: swimming exhaustive protocol.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) on MTT levels. Data are reported as means±SD (n=4). P>0.05 (two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test). es: effect size; SEP: swimming exhaustive protocol.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) on non-protein –SH levels. Data are reported as means±SD (n=4). P>0.05 (two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test). SEP: swimming exhaustive protocol.
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