IMPACT OF CAFFEINE INGESTION ON CIRCULATING GROWTH HORMONE AND INSULIN LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-1 LEVELS DURING ENDURANCE EXERCISE
D. HEIKKINEN Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 12 | DECEMBER 2014 | 103
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of caffeine ingestion on serum growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels in healthy, recreationally active males during endurance cycling exercise. Methods: The subjects (N = 10) included healthy, recreationally active males (29.1 6 5.4), height (179.35 6 8.12), weight (85.10 6 11.72), and V _ O2peak (51.62 6 7.14). All subjects participated in 3 research sessions. The first session was used to determine the V _ O2peak of each subject, this value was used to determine an exercise intensity of between 60 and 70% of V _ O2peak for the repeated measures sessions. In the repeated measures sessions the subjects participated in stationary cycling exercise for duration of 45 minutes of time.
Caffeine was administered in a double blind, placebo controlled design 60 min prior to the exercise task at a dose of 5 mgkg of bodyweight. Blood was collected 60 minutes pre-exercise, 0 minute pre-exercise, 0 minute post-exercise, and 30 minutes-post exercise in order to measure serum GH and IGF-1 levels. A 2 3 4 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated to compare the dependent variables across testing periods.
Results: For GH no significant interaction (p = 0.83) was observed between the treatment and time. A significant main effect was observed for time (F = 15.738, p , 0.01). The overall mean levels of GH across time were 1.54 ng/ml (SD = 1.35) at 60 minutes pre exercise, 1.55 ng/ml (SD = 1.41) at 0 minute pre exercise, 10.72 ng/ml (SD = 8.17) at 0 minute post exercise, and 3.15 ng/ml (SD = 3.03) at 30 minutes post exercise. Significant differences for GH (p # 0.05) existed in serum GH levels at 0 minute post exercise compared to the other time points. No significant main effect (p = 0.26) were observed for treatment. For IGF-1 no significant interaction (p = 0.39) was observed between the treatment and time. A significant main effectforthetreatmentwasobserved(p =0.01).The overall mean levels of IGF-1 were 113.47 ng/ml (SD = 33.31) with caffeine, and 111.05ng/ml(SD = 36.18) with placebo.No significant main effect (p = 0.67) for time was observed.
Conclusions: In conclusion, caffeine ingestion prior to endurance cycling exercise did not have an effect on serum GH. An increase in serum IGF-1 was observed in the current study over time. Practical Application: These findings suggested that caffeine ingestion prior to endurance exercise does not have an impact on serum GH levels. An increase in serum IGF-1 levels was observed. Further studies may investigate possible fluctuations in serum GH and IGF-1 during endurance exercise with caffeine ingestion at varying exercise intensity levels and with different age demographics.