Effect of Glutamine Supplementation and Leech Therapy on Blood Lactate Level and Pain Index in a Single Bout Exhaustive Exercise in Young Athletes

Background: Glutamine supplementation for recovery is common in sports. Leech therapy has also been used as complementary medicine in traditional Iranian medicine. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of glutamine intake and leech therapy on blood lactate level and pain index in a single bout exhaustive exercise in athletes. Methods: Thirty-two male athletes (22.2 ± 2.06 years) were selected and randomly divided into four groups (n = 8) of control, glutamine (0.6 g/kg body weight), leech therapy (2 leeches), and combined leech therapy + glutamine. The subjects participated in an exhaustive test. The levels of lactate and muscle pain perception were measured before, immediately after, and a half and an hour after the test. The significance level was considered P ≤ 0.05. Results: In all groups, lactate increased immediately after the activity, the highest increase was observed in the control, leech therapy, glutamine, and glutamine + leech therapy groups, respectively. Also, the most reduction in lactate level was observed in 1 hour and a half hour after the activity, which was related to the glutamine + leech therapy group. The highest reduction in the pain was observed at 1 hour and a half hour after the activity, which was related to the glutamine + leech group. Conclusions: The results showed that glutamine supplementation prior to a single bout exhaustive exercise followed by leech therapy led to a decrease in the lactate level and pain index during the recovery period compared to the other three groups, suggesting that this method may be effective. However, more research is needed to prove the benefits of this method to reduce the lactate and pain subsequent exhaustive exercise.