Annals of Applied Sport Science

The aim of present research was the effect of short-term use of edible solution of jujube one week before a single session of circuit resistance exercise on neutrophil apoptosis of male students of physical education. 14 young male volunteer students were divided into two groups of placebo (n=7, aged 24.50±2.50, height 171.17±1.70, and weight 67.51±4.92) and jujube solution (n=7, aged 25.25±1.31, height 179.75±3.63, weight 74.07±5.78) at random, performing one circuit resistance exercise (9 moves/stops, 30 seconds for each exercise, 3 nonstop sets with a 3-minute active recession between sets, 10-14 repetitions, and an intensity of 70% maximum repetition). Subjects received placebo and jujube solutions (0.5 g/kgbody weight in 2.5cc of distilled water as long as 7 days) at certain times and double-blind. Blood samples were collected 30 minutes before, immediately, and 2 hours after the exercise for separation and counting the number of neutrophils, and neutrophil apoptosis was determined through AnexinV-FITC kit and flow cytometric method. The results indicated the significant response of initial apoptosis neutrophils to one course of activity by jujube group. However, different responses were observed between two groups of placebo and jujube during the recession after training. Unlike placebo group, the response was significantly lower with a greater decrease after training in jujube group. However, necrosis/delayed apoptosis neutrophils significantly increased in placebo group after 2 hours, while this change was not observed in jujube group. At the end of a 2-hour recession, delayed apoptosis neutrophils significantly decreased in both placebo and jujube groups. The present findings indicate that one-session resistance activity is not very effective after pretreatment with jujube solution during one week. Perhaps this useful effect of jujube can be explained by existing glucose compounds and amino acids which could provide neutrophils with proper nutrition source in comparison with placebo. It is possible that jujube resulted in improvement of neutrophil’s antioxidant capacity, because it has proper antioxidant materials. Therefore, it might be stated that loading with edible jujube solution can be effective in inhibiting apoptosis at least for one week.