An investigation of the effect of pre-season training on oxidative stress and delayed muscle damage in wheelchair and running basketball players

Basketball is a sport that requires high-intensity physical activities, and these activities often cause oxidative stress and subsequent muscle damage. Wheelchair basketball, in terms of the structure of the game and the quantity of activity, creates some physiological differences compared to running basketball. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of acute exercise on oxidative stress, irisin, and muscle damage parameters in wheelchair and running basketball players. The average ages of the participants were 28.77 ± 4.9 and 22.44 ± 2.50 years for nine wheelchairs and nine running male basketball players, respectively. Following 24-hour nutrition records, the athletes underwent 90-minute high-intensity (%70-80) skill-based acute training consisting of offensive and defensive movements, dribbling and free throws. Blood samples were collected from the antecubital veins of the athletes before and after the training to determine Creatine Kinase (CK), Vitamin A (carotenoid), Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Vitamin E (α-tocopherol), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and irisin levels. The blood samples were analyzed using Eliza, HPLC, and Auto-analyzer tests. Normally distributed data were analyzed using paired (within-group) and independent (between-group) t-tests. In contrast, non-normally distributed data were analyzed using Wilcoxon (within-group) and Mann-Whitney U tests (between-group). In running basketball players, there was a significant increase in CK, MDA, and SOD levels after training (p<0.05). In the comparison, wheelchair basketball players had significantly lower levels of CK, Vitamin E, Irisin, MDA, and SOD compared to running basketball players (p<0.05). Additionally, a positive significant correlation was found between MDA and irisin (r=0.448), MDA and SOD (r=0.803), and SOD and irisin (r=0.366) in this study (p<0.05). According to the data from this study, it can be concluded that running basketball involves more muscle activity and energy expenditure compared to wheelchair basketball, resulting in higher lipid peroxidation, cellular damage, and oxidative stress.