Dr.Biol., Professor R.V. Tambovtseva¹
Postgraduate D.I. Sechin^1
1Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE), Moscow

Keywords: athletes, ergogenic effects, hypoxia, neuropeptide, Semax, mental/ physiological performance test rates.

Introduction. Modern athletic training systems give a high priority to efficient ergogenic agents to improve the competitive fitness. One of the key criteria in the ergogentic agent selection process, in addition to its safety and efficiency, is its origin. Attempts to introduce synthetic drugs into the system of ergogenic support, albeit officially approved for use in the competitive and preparatory periods, are fraught with a number of practical difficulties (the athlete’s or coach’s fear of using a pharmacological agent, the ethical aspect of using pharmacological agents in youth sports, etc.). The direct opposite of pharmacological preparations in the context of preparation for the upcoming competitive activity is the use of external environmental factors, being one of the most relevant areas in the field of biological studies. The key feature of environmental factors is the possibility to recreate them and subsequently model during the training process.

The neuropeptide Semax 0.1% is a home-grown technology approved for use in sports and classified as a regulatory peptide, which has a nootropic, psycho-stimulating, neuroprotective, antioxidant and antihypoxic effect [1]. The interest in using the neuropeptide Semax 0.1% in sports is owing to both the general tendency to introduce nootropic drugs into practice of sports, and the possibility of affecting the athletes’ peptidergic system, which makes it possible to: eliminate the mediator deficiency in various structures of the central nervous system, slow down the tissue aging processes, maintain the viability of neurons and their plasticity, restore optimal metabolism in the cells of specific tissues, provide dosed stimulation of the specific cell functions [3, 2, 5]. The interest in using hypoxia as an ergogenic agent is primarily owing to the proven efficiency of this method of exposure to the body of athletes. The interest in hypoxia on the part of sport science lies in the possibility of triggering complex integrated reactions involving various systems of the athlete’s body, which leads to pronounced changes in the cardiovascular system, blood-forming organs, external respiration and gas exchange [4].

Objective of the study was to rate the short-time effects on the athletes’ mental and physiological test rates of neuropeptide Semax 0.1% versus the hypoxic training by 10% oxygen mix.

Methods and structure of the study. The experiment was conducted at the Muscular Activity Bioenergy Research Laboratory of the N.I. Volkov Sports Biochemistry and Bioenergy Department at Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE). Sampled for the experiment were the 21-25 year-old highly skilled (CMS+) athletes representing different sports (n=45) split up into Reference Group (RG), Semax Group (SG) and Hypoxia Group (HG). All subjects agreed to participate in the experiment and had no contraindications to the selected experimental methods. The experiment was run from 09:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with the meals allowed for 3+ hours prior to the experiment. The Reference Group administered intranasal NaCl; Semax Group administered 500mg of Semax 0.1%; and the Hypoxia Group was subject to 30min hypoxic trainings by 10% oxygen mix. The ergogenic effects on the athletes’ mental/ physiological indices were rated by the following tests: response to beep (RB); response to flash; choice reaction; individual minute; and interval (six 10s intervals) tapping (ТТ1-ТТ6) test.

Results and discussion. The initial statistical indicators in terms of the time of response to beep, flash, choice reaction, individual minute, dynamics of the tempo of movements of the leading arm when using Semax 0.1% and a hypoxic stimulus are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Effects of Semax 0.1% and hypoxic training on athletes’ initial mental/ physiological test rates

The differences in the initial values reflect the mental/ physiological differences between the studied samples; however, in terms of the majority of the presented indicators, the differences found were statistically insignificant.

Under the influence of the ergogenic agents, a repeated mental/ physiological testing of the subjects was carried out. The results are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Effects of Semax 0.1% and hypoxic training on athletes’ mental/ physiological test rates

The administration of ergogenic agents contributed to reduction of the time spent on the main reactions in both experimental groups (EG), as well as a number of changes in the dynamics of the arm movement rate. For the purpose of objectification of the comparative data, we compared the differences between the initial and experimental results in the form of diagrams presented in Fig. 1 (Diagram of the range of differences in the reaction indices) and Fig. 2 (Diagram of the differences in the rate of arm movement).

Fig. 1. Diagram of range of differences in reactions in studied samples in RG and EG under influence of Semax 0.1% and hypoxic training

The indicators plotted in Fig. 1 reflect a positive downward trend in the time of reaction to the main stimuli upon administration of the neuropeptide Semax 0.1% and after normobaric hypoxia training (10% oxygen mix).

Fig. 2. Differences in the rate of arm movement in RG and EG under influence of Semax 0.1% and hypoxic training

The results presented in Fig. 2 testify to the particular features of the experimental tools. Thus, in the Semax Group there were positive changes expressed in the optimization of the arm movement rate and increasing degree of instance of an "even" pace, which is important for sports associated with standardized and monotonous technical elements. The ergogenic effect observed during the intranasal administration of the neuropeptide Semax 0.1% is due to the impact on the athletes’ peptidergic system.

The hypoxic effect, in spite of the previously described positive effect on the motor reaction rate, reduces the dynamics of the arm movement rate without changing its qualitative characteristics. The changes noted during the normobaric hypoxia training used as an ergogenic agent are due to the activation of compensatory defense mechanisms against oxygen deficiency and adrenergic and pituitary-adrenal systems in particular.

Conclusions. It was experimentally shown that ergogenic agents of various nature, for example, the synthetic neuropeptide Semax 0.1% and hypoxic training by 10% oxygen mix have a similar ergogenic effect. The comparison of the Semax 0.1% and hypoxic effects, irrespective of the “target” system, indicate the overall tendency towards reduction of the time of the main types of reactions.

References

1. Ashmarin I.P. Nootropny analog adrenokortikotropina 4-10 – Semaks (15-letniy opyit razrabotki I izucheniya) [Nootropic analogue of adrenocorticotropin 4-10 – Semax (15 years experience in development and study)]. Zhurnal vysshey nervnoy deyatelnosti. 1997. V. 47. Pp. 419-425.
2. Volkov N.I., Voytenko Y.L., Tambovtseva R.V. Problemy ergogennykh sredstv I metodov trenirovki v teorii I praktike sporta vysshikh dostizheniy [Problems of ergogenous methods and techniques of training in theory and practice of elite sport]. Teoriya I praktika fiz. kultury, 2013, no. 8, pp. 68-72.
3. Lysenko A.V. Ispolzovanie sovremennykh biomeditsinskikh tekhnologiy v sporte [Modern biomedical technology in sports]. Olimpiyskaya ideya segodnya [Olympic idea today]. Proc. 6 nat. sci. conf. with intern. Part.. Rostov-on-Don: SFU publ., 2016. Pp. 23-28.
4. Platonov V.N. Periodizatsiya sportivnoy trenirovki. Obschaya teoriya I ee prakticheskoe primenenie [Periodization of sports training. General theory and its practical application]. Kiev: Olimpiyskaya literature publ., 2014. 624 p.
5. Sechin D.I., Tambovtseva R.V. Sportivnaya prikladnost nootropnyih sredstv [Nootropic drugs - application in sports]. Aktualnye problemy biokhimii i bioenergetiki sporta XXI veka [Actual problems of sport biochemistry and bioenergy of the XXI century]. Proc. nat. res.-pr. on-line conf. with intern. part.. 2017. pp. 388-396.

Corresponding author: ritta7@mail.ru

Abstract

Modern athletic training systems give a high priority to efficient ergogenic agents to improve the competitive fitness. One of the key criteria in the ergogentic agent selection process, in addition to its safety and efficiency, is its origin. The study was designed to rate the short-time effects on the athletes’ mental and physiological test rates of neuropeptide Semax 0.1% versus the hypoxic training by 10% oxygen mix. Sampled for the experiment were the 21-25 year old highly skilled (CMS+) athletes representing different sports (n=45) split up into Reference Group, Semax Group and Hypoxia Group. The experiment was run from 09:00 AM to 12:00, with the meals allowed for 3+ hours prior to the experiment. The Reference Group administered intranasal NaCl; Semax Group administered 500mg of Semax 0.1%; and the Hypoxia Group was subject to 30min hypoxic trainings by 10% oxygen mix. The ergogenic effects on the athletes’ mentality and physiology were rated by the following tests: response to beep; response to flash; choice reaction; individual minute; and the interval (six 10s intervals) tapping (ТТ1-ТТ6) test. The Semax Group and Hypoxia Group were tested with the similar benefits of both ergogenic agents (despite the difference in their bodily ‘targets’) as verified by response tests.