ArticleSports medicine - open2022
Serum Bilirubin Concentrations and the Prevalence of Gilbert Syndrome in Elite Athletes.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Eight weeks of aerobic exercise, but not four, improves insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular performance in young women.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Transforming Toxicity into Therapy: Exploring Bilirubin's Benefits and Its Molecular Role in Cardiac Health and Disease.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Metabolic Flexibility and Exercise Performance in Adults with Gilbert's Syndrome-Associated Hyperbilirubinemia.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Bilirubin: translational perspectives.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Management of Inherited Hyperbilirubinemia (2025).Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2026Article
- Biliverdin reductase A is a major determinant of protective NRF2 signaling.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Higher bilirubin on admission predicts better outcome in refractory cardiac arrest: A Prague OHCA trial analysis focused on the antioxidant effect of bilirubin.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- [Expert consensus on the diagnosis and therapy of inherited hyperbilirubinemia (version 2025)].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2025Article
- Relationship between serum total bilirubin and frailty in middle-aged and elderly individuals.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Bile Acids and Bilirubin Role in Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Cardiovascular Diseases.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- A graphene oxide/polyaniline nanocomposite biosensor: synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical detection of bilirubin.RSC advances · 2023Article
- Oxidative status alteration during aerobic-dominant mixed and anaerobic-dominant mixed effort in judokas.Heliyon · 2023Article
- The physiology of bilirubin: health and disease equilibrium.Trends in molecular medicine · 2023Review
- Bilirubin Levels Are Negatively Correlated with Adiposity in Obese Men and Women, and Its Catabolized Product, Urobilin, Is Positively Associated with Insulin Resistance.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Metabolic Characteristics of Patients at the Risk for Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Comparative Study of Diabetic Patients with and without Diabetic Foot.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2023Article
- Serum Bilirubin and Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in a Healthy Population and in Patients with Various Forms of Atherosclerosis.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Potential Role of mAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Cutting edge concepts: Does bilirubin enhance exercise performance?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesBilirubin is a potent endogenous antioxidant and immunomodulating substance, which is also implicated in both cell signalling and various metabolic pathways. Mild elevation of systemic bilirubin concentrations provides substantial protection against many diseases of civilization. Rare published reports have suggested that serum bilirubin might also be relevant to sports performance. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate serum bilirubin concentrations and the prevalence of Gilbert syndrome (GS) in elite athletes.
methodsThe study was carried out in 536 consecutive healthy elite athletes and in 2594 individuals of the Czech post-MONICA study representing the general Czech population. Serum bilirubin concentrations, the prevalence of benign hyperbilirubinemia > 17 µmol/L (1 mg/dL, a phenotypic sign of GS), and a variant of the UGT1A1 gene promoter responsible for GS manifestation in Caucasians (rs81753472) were evaluated in study subjects.
resultsCompared to the general Czech population, significantly higher serum bilirubin concentrations were found in elite athletes (9.6 vs. 11.6 µmol/L, p < 0.001), both in men (11.3 vs. 12.6 µmol/L, p < 0.001) and women (8.3 vs. 10.5 µmol/L, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the prevalence of GS was also significantly higher in elite athletes (9.6 vs. 22%, p < 0.001) together with the tendency to higher frequencies of the genotypes (TA)
conclusionElite athletes have significantly higher concentrations of serum bilirubin, the most potent endogenous antioxidant substance known. Simultaneously, the prevalence of GS syndrome is also much higher in elite athletes, suggesting that a mild elevation of serum bilirubin might predispose to better sports performance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.