Short-Term Oral Quercetin Supplementation Improves Post-exercise Insulin Sensitivity, Antioxidant Capacity and Enhances Subsequent Cycling Time to Exhaustion in Healthy Adults: A Pilot Study

Jung-Piao Tsao; Jeffrey R Bernard; Hsiu-Chen Hsu; Chin-Lin Hsu; Su-Fen Liao; I-Shiung Cheng

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.875319

Short-Term Oral Quercetin Supplementation Improves Post-exercise Insulin Sensitivity, Antioxidant Capacity and Enhances Subsequent Cycling Time to Exhaustion in Healthy Adults: A Pilot Study

Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 28:9:875319. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.875319. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jung-Piao Tsao¹, Jeffrey R Bernard², Hsiu-Chen Hsu³, Chin-Lin Hsu^{4

5}, Su-Fen Liao^{6

7}, I-Shiung Cheng⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sports Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan.
² Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA, United States.
³ Physical Education Office, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan.
⁴ School of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua City, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Physical Education, National Taichung University of Education, Taichung City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Aim: Quercetin has been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties on health promotion in human studies. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term oral quercetin supplementation on post-exercise whole-body energy metabolism. This study also aimed to determine the effects of supplementation on oxygen stress, inflammation, muscle damage, and high-intensity cycling exercise performance.

Method: Twelve healthy participants, physically active students, were recruited to perform a randomized, single-blind crossover study. All subjects completed 7-days of quercetin (quercetin:1,000 mg per day for 7-days) and placebo supplementation in a randomized order. Supplement/placebo was combined with exercise consisting of 70% V̇O_2max cycling for 60-min, followed by 3-h of recovery, then a subsequent single bout of cycling exercise with 75% V̇O_2max to exhaustion. Time to exhaustion, indicators of muscle damage, as well as blood and gaseous parameters relating to energy metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammatory response, respectively, were determined.

Results: The results showed that 7-day quercetin supplementation significantly attenuated the post-exercise glucose-induced insulin response, increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and superoxidase dismutase (SOD) activities, and mitigated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels during the recovery period (p < 0.05). While subsequent 75% V̇O_2max cycling performance was significantly improved after quercetin treatment and accompanied by lower responses of interleukin 6 and creatine kinase at 24-h. However, it's noted that there were no significant responses in glucose, respiratory exchange rate, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), myoglobin, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein between quercetin and placebo trials.

Conclusion: Our findings concluded that 7-day oral quercetin supplementation enhances high-intensity cycling time to exhaustion, which may be due in part to the increase in whole-body insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and attenuation of exercise-induced oxygen stress and pro-inflammation. Therefore, quercetin may be considered an effective ergogenic aid for enhancing high-intensity cycling performance among young adults.

Keywords: ergogenic aids; exercise; insulin-stimulated glucose uptake; quercetin; time to exhaustion.