The Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Serum Levels of Creatine Kinase, Lactate Dehydrogenase and Muscle Strength at Resting and after a Soccer Match in Young Soccer Players

Few researches have been carried out on the effect of selenium supplementation on muscle damage in athletes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of selenium supplementation on serum levels of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and muscle strength at resting and after a soccer match in young soccer players.
The research method was quasi-experimental and 19 young soccer players were selected among soccer players in Saghez city and were randomly divided into two experimental (supplementation, n=10) and control (placebo, n=9) groups. The assessments were carried out in three stages (pre-supplementation, post-supplementation, and immediately after the match). General characteristics of subjects, muscle strength, and circulating levels of LDH and CK were measured. The supplementation period was one month (one 200 µg/ml selenium capsule daily). The placebo group also consumed a starch capsule each day. In order to analyze the data, two factor analysis of variance with repeated measures were used at the significant level of P<0.05.
Selenium supplementation has no effect on muscle strength (bench-press p=0.790, leg-press p=0.912) and levels of CK (p=0.051) and LDH (p=0.244) at rest and after the soccer match.
Selenium supplementation for one month and a daily intake of 200 μg does not appear to have a beneficial or harmful effect on muscle strength and circulating levels of enzymes indicating muscle damage at rest and following a soccer match in young soccer players. More research is needed to reveal various aspects of the issue.