The Acute Effect of Ginkgo Biloba Extract on Muscle Soreness Markers and C-reactive Protein (CRP) After High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in Active Girls

The results of the studies indicated that strenuous acute exercise can lead to increased inflammatory indices, muscle injury and decreased performance in athletes. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that the nutritional intervention may diminish inflammation and muscle cell damage. Hence, the aim of this investigation was to study the acute effect of ginkgo biloba extract on creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, as muscle soreness markers, and C- reactive protein (CRP) after high intensity interval training (HIIT) in active girls. In a quasi-experimental study 24 active girls (mean age: 24.06±3.43 years; weight: 57.56±6.03 kg; height: 159.98±4.87 cm and body mass index: 22.51±2.41 kg/m2) randomly assigned into two Ginkgo biloba supplement and placebo groups. Subjects in supplement group consume 160 mg/day of ginkgo biloba extract daily for 3 weeks while the placebo group received the same amount of placebo. All subjects of both groups underwent in high intensity interval exercise RAST (including two sets of 6 repetitions of two fast running 35 meters and with a maximum intensity performed after the rest interval of 10 seconds in each repetition) after 3weeks of supplementation. Venous blood samples were collected for assessment of CK, LDH and CRP indices at four stages. Data was analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test at α ≤ 0.05. The results showed that the HIIT increased the levels of CK, LDH and CRP at the immediately and 24 hours after exercise in both placebo and supplement groups (p<0/05). Nevertheless, ginkgo biloba supplementation attenuated their increase of CK and CRP indicators following high intensity exercise compared to control groups (p<0/05). The results of this study indicated that ginkgo biloba supplementation can be effective in alleviates the inflammation and muscular damage by the HIIT in active girls.