The Effects Of Dehydration And Rehydration On Oxidative Stress Levels In Athletes As Determined By The Presence Of Lipid Hydroperoxides In Blood Plasma

Researchers have demonstrated that prolonged, intense exercise is correlated to increased oxidative stress to harmful levels. Despite the common presence in sports and exercise, the effects of dehydration and rehydration on oxidative stress levels has been less researched Eighty-two athletes were recruited for baseline anthropometric data and blood sampling. Subjects underwent a supervised exercise regimen until they reached a predetermined dehydration-induced mass loss goal: 3 percent body mass for males and 2 percent body mass for females. Post-dehydration, subjects underwent a second series of measurements and blood sampling. Each subject was then provided with an electrolyte-carbohydrate beverage, equal in quantity to the amount of body mass lost during exercise, to drink in 40 minutes. Once body mass was reestablished to baseline values, subjects underwent a final series of measurements and blood sampling 2 hours post rehydration. Plasma samples were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C until analysis. Oxidative stress was determined by measuring lipid hydroperoxide levels within the blood plasma of 13 randomly selected subjects using the ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange (FOX) assay. Statistical analysis was performed through a 1 way ANOVA with post-hoc testing. All values are reported as mean ± standard deviation. An increase was seen in mean lipid hydroperoxide levels post-dehydration followed by a return near baseline at the 2 hour post rehydration level, however the values were not statistically significant (p = 0.3342). While this study suggests that dehydration and rehydration are coupled with an increase and decrease in oxidative stress, respectively, more samples would need to be analyzed to make a statistically significant conclusion.