Effects of hibiscus sabdariffa linn. on malondialdehyde and glutathione peroxidase in an overtraining rat model characterized by growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3

Overtraining is associated with impaired regeneration of body cells. One of the causes of overtraining syndrome is increased production of reactive oxygen species, causes decreased levels of antioxidants. Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. contains antioxidants, especially anthocyanin. This study aims to investigate whether H. sabdariffa can prevent overtraining syndrome through decrease in MDA levels and increase in plasma GPx activity. The research subjects were 20 male rats divided randomly into 5 groups: C (control); C-Hib (400 mg/kg/day of H. sabdariffa); A-Ex (moderate aerobic exercise); OT (overtraining exercise); OT-Hib (overtraining exercise with H. sabdariffa 400 mg/kg/day). We examined GH, IGF-1, levels of free IGFBP-3, IGFBP-3 expression, MDA levels, and plasma GPx activity. We found that IGFBP-3 gene expression in OT and OT-Hib higher than in groups C, C-Hib and A-Ex. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). MDA levels in the OT-Hib group were significantly lower than in group OT (p = 0.019). The mean level of GPx in OT-Hib was higher than in group OT, but the difference was statistically not significant. There were strong negative correlations between GPx activities and both, MDA levels and IGFBP-3 gene expression. In conclusion, we found that H. sabdariffa decreases MDA levels and increases GPx activity in our overtraining model and can thus prevent overtraining syndrome.