Can caffeine ingestion be useful to mitigate the impaired neuromuscular function due to central fatigue?

• Grant number: 23/06180-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physical Education
• Principal Investigator: Alessandro Moura Zagatto
• Grantee: Alessandro Moura Zagatto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Juan Murias ; Melissa Talita Wiprich

Abstract

Central fatigue can impair neuromuscular function and functional performance, which can be induced by environmental conditions like heat and altitude as well as long-term exercise. In this way is so relevant to investigate therapy that can counterattack the impaired effects. Caffeine is used to attenuate the neuromuscular fatigue in several sports. However, the literature is still ambiguous about the benefits of caffeine on neuromuscular fatigue and few studies have investigated how in a stressful situation that causes central fatigue caffeine acts on the behavior of neuromuscular function kinetics recovery. The research study aims to investigate whether, after the inducted a state of central fatigue by hypoxia and heat exercise, acute caffeine supplementation can accelerate the neuromuscular fatigue kinetics recovery during and after constant work rate exercise (CWR). Physically active individuals of 18 and 35 years old and of both sexes will be submitted to central fatigue induction by exercise under conditions of normoxia and high hypoxia + heat exercise conditions. Then, they will be supplemented with caffeine or placebo, and after 60 minutes they will perform a CWR on a cycle ergometer for 40 minutes. Before and after the induction of central fatigue, immediately post-exercise, 15min, 30min, and each hour until 3h post-exercise cessation to assess the neuromuscular function kinetics recovery, the neuromuscular function will be assessed, rating of perceived exertion. In addition, oxygen saturation will be measured in the vastus lateralis muscular and frontal cortex. (AU)