Volume 32, Issue 1 (3-2025)
RJMS 2025, 32(1): 1-11 |
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Research code: 0
Ethics code: IR.KUMS.REC.1399.229
Clinical trials code: 0
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Rafieemoghadam K, Hosseinpour Delavar S, Behpoor N, Jalilvand M. The Effect of 24 Hours of Sleep Deprivation on Blood Indices Responses of Elite Athletes, Following an Exhausting Exercise. RJMS 2025; 32 (1) :1-11
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-7516-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-7516-en.html
Sport Physiology Department, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran , Delavar2009@yahoo.com
Abstract: (325 Views)
Background & Aims: Sleep has various physiological and cognitive functions and is vital for recovery and optimal performance in athletes. It can provide the body an opportunity to rest from the stressors that many athletes face throughout the day (1). Sleep deprivation can directly affect the performance of athletes by affecting the physiological systems (4). Blood indicators are one of the physiological factors on which the effect of sleep deprivation has been studied. The effect of sleep deprivation on blood cells counts has reported conflicting results (6-10). Another factor that affects blood indices, such as sleep deprivation, is physical activity. The results of previous research show that hematological factors that play a role in human health can change according to the activity performed in individuals, which ultimately have a significant impact on the performance and the final result of the competition. Athletes have been reported that they experience sleep disturbances prior to competition (13). They reported slept worse than normal prior to an important competition, problems in falling asleep, waking up early in the morning and waking up at night. Factors such as thoughts about competition, nervousness about competition were identified as reasons for poor sleep. The effect of Sleep deprivation on blood parameters following an exhaustive activity has not been considered in previous research. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of 24 hours of Sleep deprivation on blood parameters following a debilitating activity.
Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental study and a pre-test-post-test design with a control group was used to perform it. The ethical license of the present study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences with the code IR.KUMS.REC.1399.229. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the members of the national youth and adult water polo teams present in the national team camps in May 2021, as well as the athletes who were members of the water polo premier league teams. According to the available sampling method, 24 of these athletes expressed their consent to participate in the study and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Participants were monitored for their regular nighttime sleep for three days prior to the pre-test. During the one-week interval between pre-test and post-test, participants were also monitored for regular nighttime sleep. The research protocol was performed in two phases with an interval of one week: The first stage included a full night of sleep between 10:30 and 11:30 pm, the time of sleep onset and 7 to 8 am when the subjects woke up. Exhaustive activity protocol was implemented at 8 am. One week after the first phase and in the second phase, after 24 hours of Sleep deprivation, participants performed the exhaustive activity protocol at 8 am. To perform 24 hours of sleep deprivation: The experimenter spent all the night with the athletes in order to ensure that they do not go through a sleep episode. The athletes could attempt various activities, such as entertainment (computer games), reading books, and watching movies. During the one night sleep deprivation, they were restricted from taking caffeine, tea or other stimulants. Blood samples were taken from the participants after the end of exhaustion and cooling down activities. Bruce maximal treadmill test which uses time to exhaustion was used as an Exhaustive activity. First, the subjects' height and weight were measured and then the athletes warmed up for 10 minutes at 70% of the predicted maximum heart rate. After that, the exhaustion time of the experimental and control groups were measured using the Bruce protocol. It is a standardized multistage treadmill test for assessing cardiovascular health. In the Bruce protocol (Bruce) participants started exercising at a treadmill speed of 2.7 km·h−1 and an incline of 10% gradient for 3 minutes. Workloads (speed and inclination) were subsequently increased each 3-minute period in a simultaneous way until volitional exhaustion was reached. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the research data.
Results: The present study showed that 24 hours of sleep deprivation had a significant effect on white blood cells (F = 5.848, 0.012) (Sig, elite athletes following a debilitating activity but on the number of red blood cells) F = 0.421, 0.524 (Sig and blood hemoglobin) F = 0.601, F = 0.449 (Sig, following a debilitating activity has no significant effect.
Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, 24 hours of sleep deprivation has a significant effect on white blood cells in elite athletes following a debilitating activity. Sleep deprivation has been introduced as a stressor whose mechanism of action is the same as other stressful conditions (29). In literature, it has been documented that the interaction between sleep deprivation and acute physical activity certainly leads a deficiency in immune system among trained athletes (33). Indeed, it has been demonstrated that sleep loss is associated with changes in control of appetite, resistance to insulin, glucose homoeostasis, endothelial function, sympathetic nervous system activation, and inflammatory and haemostatic pathways (34). Consequently, one night of sleep deprivation triggers inflammatory reactions, and can even exhaust the immune system, especially among professional athletes (33-36). Another important finding of the present study was that 24 hours sleep deprivation had no significant effect on red blood cells and hemoglobin levels in elite athletes following an exhausting activity. No research has been done to find changes in red blood cells and hemoglobin levels following physical activity after sleep deprivation. Nevertheless it has been understood that the levels of erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that stimulates erythrocyte production, has a well-marked circadian rhythm. In addition erythrocytes have a circadian control process that operates independently of transcriptional events, through mechanisms dependent on the oscillations of the redox system and/or on the rhythm of potassium transport. How sleep deprivation in general and physical activity after sleep deprivation in particular affect the number, distribution, and function of red blood cells and hemoglobin is a new area that needs further research. (40-41).
In general, exhaustive physical activity after sleep deprivation increases the number of white blood cells that play a role in the body's immune function, but does not have a significant effect on the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the blood.
Type of Study: case report |
Subject:
Exercise Physiology
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