Effect of aspartate and asparagine supplementation on fatigue determinants in intense exercise.

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of aspartate (ASP) and asparagine (ASG) supplementation on fatigue determinants in Wistar rats exercised to exhaustion by swimming.

Methods: The animals were tested for anaerobic threshold (AT) determination and then supplemented with 350 mM ASP + 400 mM ASG x day(-1) (AA group, n = 16) or 2 ml x day(-1) of distillated water (PLC group, n = 16) for 7 days. On the 7th day of supplementation, the animals were divided into 4 new groups and killed at rest (RAA, n = 8; RPLC, n = 8), or immediately after the swimming exercise to exhaustion (EAA, n = 8; EPLC, n = 8).

Branched-chain amino acid supplementation and the immune response of long-distance athletes.

Objective: Intense long-duration exercise has been associated with immunosuppression, which affects natural killer cells, lymphokine-activated killer cells, and lymphocytes. The mechanisms involved, however, are not fully determined and seem to be multifactorial, including endocrine changes and alteration of plasma glutamine concentration. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of branched-chain amino acid supplementation on the immune response of triathletes and long-distance runners.