Metabolomics profiling of plasma, urine and saliva after short term training in young professional football players in Saudi Arabia

Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 12;10(1):19759. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75755-6.

Abstract

Metabolomics profiling was carried out to observe the effect of short-term intensive physical activity on the metabolome of young Saudi professional football players. Urine, plasma and saliva were collected on 2 days pre- and post-training. An Orbitrap Exactive mass spectrometer was used to analyze the samples. A reversed-phase (RP) column was used for the analysis of non-polar plasma metabolites, and a ZIC-pHILIC column was used for the analysis of plasma, saliva and urine. mzMine was used to extract the data, and the results were modelled using Simca-P 14.1 software. There was no marked variation in the metabolite profiles between pre day 1 and 2 or between post day 1 and 2 according to principal components analysis (PCA). When orthogonal partial least squares (OPLSDA) modelling was also used, and then models could be fitted based on a total number of metabolites of 75, 16 and 32 for urine, plasma and saliva using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) and 6 for analysis of plasma with reversed-phase (RP) chromatography respectively. The present study concludes that acylcarnitine may increase post-exercise in football players suggesting that they may burn fat rather than glucose. The levels of carnitine metabolites in plasma post-exercise could provide an important indicator of fitness.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Athletes / statistics & numerical data*
  • Athletic Performance / physiology*
  • Football*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Metabolome*
  • Plasma / metabolism*
  • Saliva / metabolism*
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Urinalysis / methods*
  • Young Adult