Trial reportJournal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition2021
Effects of 14-weeks betaine supplementation on pro-inflammatory cytokines and hematology status in professional youth soccer players during a competition season: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of 8-Week β-Alanine Supplementation on CRP, IL-6, Body Composition, and Bio-Motor Abilities in Elite Male Basketball Players.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Effects of chronic betaine supplementation on performance in professional young soccer players during a competitive season: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2021Trial
- Betaine: A Promising Natural Product for Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- Taurine and betaine promote lactate clearance in canine hepatocytes by enhancing gluconeogenesis.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Dietary betaine for fattening Californian rabbits: in vivo and in silico insights into growth, blood physiology, and nutrient utilization.Tropical animal health and production · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a machine learning-based nomogram for predicting HLA-B27 expression.BMC immunology · 2023Article
- The Effect of Environmental Disasters on Endocrine Status, Hematology Parameters, Body Composition, and Physical Performance in Young Soccer Players: A Case Study of the Aral Sea Region.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Editorial: Sports immunometabolism, training load, and nutrition: effects on sports performance and psychological behavior of athletes.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Biomarkers of post-match recovery in semi-professional and professional football (soccer).Frontiers in physiology · 2023Review
- Making the case for prophylactic use of betaine to promote brain health in young (15-24 year old) athletes at risk for concussion.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- The Effect of 3-Week Betaine Supplementation on Blood Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Health in Young Physically Active Males.Metabolites · 2022Article
- Review
- Effects of 6-Week Betaine Supplementation on Muscular Performance in Male Collegiate Athletes.Biology · 2022Article
- The influence of maturation, fitness, and hormonal indices on minutes played in elite youth soccer players: a cross-sectional study.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2022Article
- OrnipuralAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Dehydration, Wellness, and Training Demands of Professional Soccer Players during Preseason.BioMed research international · 2022Observational
- Impacts of different intensities of exercise on inflammation and hypoxia markers in low altitude.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Potential Improvement in Rehabilitation Quality of 2019 Novel Coronavirus by Isometric Training System; Is There "Muscle-Lung Cross-Talk"?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSystemic elevations in pro-inflammatory cytokines are a marker of non-functional over reaching, and betaine has been shown to reduce the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in vitro. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of betaine supplementation on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukins-1 beta (IL-1β), - 6 (IL-6) and the complete blood cell (CBC) count in professional youth soccer players during a competitive season.
methodsTwenty-nine soccer players (age, 15.5 ± 0.3 years) were randomly divided into two groups based on playing position: betaine group (BG, n = 14, 2 g/day) or placebo group (PG, n = 15). During the 14-week period, training load was matched and well-being indicators were monitored daily. The aforementioned cytokines and CBC were assessed at pre- (P1), mid- (P2), and post- (P3) season.
resultsSignificant (p < 0.05) group x time interactions were found for TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. These variables were lower in the BG at P2 and P3 compared to P1, while IL-1β was greater in the PG at P3 compared to P1 (p = 0.033). The CBC count analysis showed there was significant group by time interactions for white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). WBC demonstrated increases at P3 compared to P2 in PG (p = 0.034); RBC was less at P3 compared to P1 in BG (p = 0.020); Hb was greater at P2 compared to P1, whilst it was less at P3 compared to P3 for both groups. MCHC was greater at P3 and P2 compared to P1 in BG, whereas MCHC was significantly lower at P3 compared to P2 in the PG (p = 0.003).
conclusionThe results confirmed that 14 weeks of betaine supplementation prevented an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and WBC counts. It seems that betaine supplementation may be a useful nutritional strategy to regulate the immune response during a fatiguing soccer season.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.