Unfavourable plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid fatty acid profile in elite amateur boxers

Abstract

Research on possible physiological changes as a consequence of a specific lifestyle and long-term strenuous exercise in boxing has been sparse. We determined plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid (PL) fatty acids (FA) profile of 16 elite amateur male boxers (22.4 +/- 3.3 years of age), and compared them with a control group composed of 19 sedentary (24.4 +/- 3.4) year-old men. The percentages of total saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monosaturated FA in plasma phospholipids were significantly higher (P lt 0.001) in boxers compared to the control group. On the other hand, all studied polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in plasma PL with the exception of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5, n-3) and docosatetraenoic acid (DTA, 22:4, n-6) were significantly lower in boxers than in sedentary men. Total PUFA, n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA were also significantly lower in boxers (P lt 0.001), whereas the n-6/n-3 ratio was higher in boxers than in control group (P lt 0.01). Boxers had significantly higher proportion of all SFA in erythrocyte PL compared to the control group (P lt 0.05). In addition, the percentage of linoleic acid was lower in boxers' erythrocyte PL than in the control group (P lt 0.05). The results show two potentially unfavourable main features of the FA profile of boxers, that is, a higher n-6/n-3 ratio in plasma PL and a higher percentage of SFA in both plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids compared to controls. As SFA correlates directly with the incidence of cardiovascular disease and high n-6/n-3 ratio has been shown to stimulate carcinogenesis and modulate inflammation and autoimmunity, this profile could be detrimental to the health of boxers. The mechanism underlying these differences requires further investigation; however the results suggest benefits of nutritional intervention.