Acute effect of low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction on oxidative stress biomarkers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: PloS one 2023-04, Vol.18 (4), p.e0283237-e0283237
• Main Authors: Ferlito, João Vitor, Rolnick, Nicholas, Ferlito, Marcos Vinicius, De Marchi, Thiago, Deminice, Rafael, Salvador, Mirian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute effects; Analysis; Antioxidants; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Blood; Blood flow; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; Damage; Exercise; Health aspects; Hemodynamics; Humans; Hypoxia; Ischemia; Isometric exercise; Lipids; Load; Load resistance; Medicine and Health Sciences; Meta-analysis; Metabolism; Musculoskeletal system; Oxidation resistance; Oxidative Stress; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Quality assessment; Research and Analysis Methods; Resistance Training - methods; Reviews; Superoxide dismutase; Systematic review
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283237

The purpose of this review was to analyze the acute effects of low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction (LLE-BFR) on oxidative stress markers in healthy individuals in comparison with LLE or high-load resistance exercise (HLRE) without BFR. A systematic review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. These searches were performed in CENTRAL, SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL and Virtual Health Library- VHL, which includes Lilacs, Medline and SciELO. The risk of bias and quality of evidence were assessed through the PEDro scale and GRADE system, respectively. Thirteen randomized clinical trials were included in this review (total n = 158 subjects). Results showed lower post-exercise damage to lipids (SMD = -0.95 CI 95%: -1.49 to -0. 40, I2 = 0%, p = 0.0007), proteins (SMD = -1.39 CI 95%: -2.11 to -0.68, I2 = 51%, p = 0.0001) and redox imbalance (SMD = -0.96 CI 95%: -1.65 to -0.28, I2 = 0%, p = 0.006) in favor of LLRE-BFR compared to HLRE. HLRE presents higher post-exercise superoxide dismutase activity but in the other biomarkers and time points, no significant differences between conditions were observed. For LLRE-BFR and LLRE, we found no difference between the comparisons performed at any time point. Based on the available evidence from randomized trials, providing very low or low certainty of evidence, this review demonstrates that LLRE-BFR promotes less oxidative stress when compared to HLRE but no difference in levels of oxidative damage biomarkers and endogenous antioxidants between LLRE. Register number: PROSPERO number: CRD42020183204.