| Disease | THE EFFECTS OF DAILY ORAL PRETREATMENT FOR 29 DAYS WITH PRESSED JUICE OF ECHINACEA PURPUREA (ECHINACIN EC31*) OR MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTS ON THE CHANGES IN IMMUNOLOGICAL VARIABLES IN RESPONSE TO A TRIATHLON SPRINT (MEAN DURATION + SD: 69.5 +
10.1 MIN) WERE INVESTIGATED IN A RANDOMISED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, PARALLEL GROUP STUDY. FORTY-TWO MALE TRIATHLES (MEAN AGE 27.5 YEARS), UNDERGOING REGULAR TRAINING, ALL WITH A VO2MAX > 52 ML/KG/MIN, WERE RANDOMISED TO ONE OF THE THREE TREATMENTS.
SERUM AND URINE LEVELS OF INTERLEUKIN 6 (IL-6) AND SOLUBLE INTERLEUKIN 2 RECEPTOR (SIL-2R) TOGETHER WITH ROUTINE SPORTS LABORATORY, CLINICAL CHEMICAL AND HAEMATOLOGICAL VARIABLES WERE DETERMINED AT BASELINE (DAY 0), AFTER TREATMENT (DAY 28)
AND I H AND 20 H AFTER THE COMPETITION (DAYS 29 AND 30). PRETREATMENT WITH ECHINACIN PRODUCED SLIGHT CHANGES IN TOTAL PERIPHERAL (CD3+) T-LYMPOCYTES, NK (CD3-CD56+) CELLS AND CD8+ LYMPHOCYTE COUNTS WHICH REMAINED WITHIN THE RANGE OF BASELINE
VARIATION. IN COMPARISON TO THE PLACEBO GROUP, EICHACIN MARKEDLY DECREASED SIL-2R IN URINE BEFORE THE COMPETITION AND ENHANCED THE EXERCISE-INDUCED DECREASE IN SERUM SIL-2R. IT FURTHER ENHANCED THE EXERCISE-INDUCED INCREASES IN URINE IL-6 AND
SERUM CORTISOL. NONE OF THE ECHINACIN-TREATED ATHLETES DEVELOPED UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS, WHICH WERE REPORTED BY 3/13 AND 4/13 SUBJECTS TREATED WITH MAGNESIUM AND PLACEBO, RESPECTIVELY. ECHINACIN APPEARS TO REDUCE SIL-2R RELEASE,
FACILITATE IL-6 RELEASE IN RESPONSE TO EXERCISE AND IN THE PRESENT STUDY REDUCED THE DOCUMENTED INCIDENCE OF RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS, POSSIBLY AS A RESULT OF MONOCYTE/MACROPHAGE STIMULATION.
A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT, ECHINACIN EC-31, WAS USED. |