TABLE 3.

ERYTHROPOIETIN AND HAEMATOLOGICAL VARIABLES IN α-LIPOIC ACID (N = 8) AND PLACEBO (N = 8) GROUPS (MEAN ± SD)

	Pre-exercise (after 10-d placebo or α-lipoic acid intake)	Post-exercise 20 min	Post-exercise 24 h	Post-exercise 48 h	P-value *
EPO (mIU·mL-1)
α-lipoic acid	12.36 ± 2.50	16.51 ± 5.52	19.63 ± 10.25	23.90 ± 11.24	0.154
placebo	7.22 ± 1.31	13.41 ± 4.89	10.95 ± 4.85	10.71 ± 5.16	<0.01
HB (g·dL-1)
α-lipoic acid	16.00 ± 0.45	16.09 ± 0.45	15.64 ± 0.82	15.23 ± 0.71	0.457
placebo	14.60 ± 0.53	15.26 ± 0.77	14.50 ± 0.84	14.59 ± 0.67	<0.05
RBC (mln·mm-3)
α-lipoic acid	5.42 ± 0.26	5.44 ± 0.22	5.32 ± 0.13	5.17 ± 0.16	0.708
placebo	5.17 ± 0.18	5.14 ± 0.20	5.01 ± 0.26	5.03 ± 0.27	>0.05
HCT (%)
α-lipoic acid	47.70 ± 1.12	47.38 ± 1.23	47.10 ± 1.47	45.74 ± 1.76	0.627
placebo	45.00 ± 1.49	44.69 ± 1.91	43.46 ± 1.94	43.69 ± 1.66	<0.05
RET (%)
α-lipoic acid	7.75 ± 1.39	7.63 ± 1.49	7.88 ± 1.36	6.38 ± 1.22	0.081
placebo	5.38 ± 0.86	4.88 ± 0.93	4.88 ± 0.78	5.50 ± 1.00	>0.05
MCV (fL)
α-lipoic acid	89.13 ± 2.21	88.69 ± 2.23	88.99 ± 2.37	89.53 ± 1.81	0.998
placebo	86.29 ± 2.41	85.84 ± 2.41	85.89 ± 2.27	86.53 ± 2.07	>0.05
MCH (pg·RBC-1)
α-lipoic acid	29.87 ± 1.35	29.97 ± 1.45	29.84 ± 1.33	29.87 ± 1.36	0.999
placebo	28.98 ± 0.89	29.16 ± 0.90	29.05 ± 0.94	29.04 ± 0.78	>0.05
MCHC (g·dL-1)
α-lipoic acid	33.18 ± 0.89	33.50 ± 1.00	33.29 ± 0.93	33.18 ± 0.94	0.997
placebo	33.36 ± 0.36	33.73 ± 0.23	33.39 ± 0.53	33.36 ± 0.52	>0.05

^*Note: The first P-value for each variable is the group x time interaction effect, and the second is the time effect.

Abbreviations: EPO – erythropoietin, HB – haemoglobin, RBC – red blood cells, HCT – haematocrit, RET – reticulocytes, MCV – mean cell volume, MCH – mean corpuscular haemoglobin, MCHC – mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration