Introduction: Taurine plays a key role in physiological processes of the human body, specifically in regulating neural transmissions, adjusting cell volume, strengthening the cell-membrane, controlling adipose tissues, and regulating calcium homeostasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term amino acid taurine supplementation on neuromuscular fatigue and exercise performance following an intense bout of exercise.
Methodology: For this purpose, 20 male professional athletes of Isfahan squash volunteers (age mean 24.12±1.25 years, height mean 174.59±4.63 cm and weight mean 71.52± 8.97 kg, BMI 23.40±2.19 kg per square meter and body fat percentage 11.81±1.21) or placebo supplementation were randomly selected, participating in pre-test and post-test sessions maximal exercise performance in these experiments. Taurine supplementation or placebo (starch) including capsules in gram were consumed by experimental group and control group to eat 5 capsules daily for up to a week. Supplementation was performed in double-blind, and the assistant researcher was aware of the nature of the capsules. After the supplementation period, immediately post-test was performed in similar conditions. Paired sample t test was performed to determine differences between the dependent variables in intergroup in pre-test and post-test and independent sample t test performed to determine differences between the experimental and control groups .
Results: The mean difference was acceptable within p<0.05 levels. The results showed that short-term use of supplemental Taurine decline neuromuscular fatigue (p=0.002), choice reaction time (p=0.012) and the rate of blood lactate accumulation (p=0.000) following an intense bout of exercise.
Discussion: The present research supports the hypothesis that the short-term supplementation of taurine amino acid can lead to a minimization of choice reaction time following maximal athletic performance. The above mentioned mechanisms of taurine may be a function of the role which plays in various interactions with glycinergic, gamma aminobutyric acid, cholinergic and adrenergic mediators. It was observed that short-term supplementation of this amino acid resulted in reduction of neuromuscular fatigue after maximal athletic performance. Bakker et al. (2010) showed that taurine reduced sensitivity to calcium in contractions along with a lowering of maximal force production. The peak response caused by depolarization increased calcium channel activity and accumulation of calcium in the sarcoplasm network. According to the results obtained in the present study, it can be noted that the use of this supplement with caution can lead to improvement of athletic performance in speed intermittent activities.