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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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10.12.2010 |
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Cobalt chloride boosts stamina in animal study
Five years ago Italian researchers speculated that a compound found in every chemistry set might be an alternative to EPO. [Br J Sports Med. 2005 Nov;39(11):872-3.] An animal study conducted in the laboratories of the Indian army confirms their vague suspicions. Cobalt chloride is an endurance drug.
A shortage of oxygen activates hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha [HIF-1-alpha] in cells. This protein boosts the production of EPO and gets cells to adjust so that they can do more with less oxygen. In some as yet unexplained way cobalt chloride improves the effect of HIF-1-alpha.
The researchers got a control group of rats to do nothing for 15 days, and made another group swim for as long as they could. Another group of rats swam too, but were also given doses of cobalt chloride varying from 2.5 to 50 mg/kg/bodyweight. After 15 days the stamina of the rats that had taken 10 and 25 mg cobalt chloride/kg bodyweight had improved.
The researchers observed no effect on the blood's capacity to transport oxygen. But the cobalt chloride did reduce the synthesis of oxygen radicals [ROS] in the muscle cells. And the muscles of the rats that had been given cobalt chloride also contained less necrotic tissue.
In the muscle cells the cobalt chloride enhanced the production of the protective haemoxygenase [HO-1], and the activity of the molecular switches PGC-1-alpha and NRF-1. These all control the energy production processes. This is probably why the researchers found less lactic acid in the muscles of the rats that had been given cobalt chloride.
The concentrations of EPO and HIF-1-alpha went up. The amount by which they rose was so small, however, that you may wonder whether cobalt chloride works via HIF-1-alpha, but the researchers do not report on this. They're content to be able to say that cobalt chloride works. "In conclusion, our study suggests that cobalt supplementation enhances endurance performance in rats by facilitating hypoxia adaptation in the skeletal muscle", they write.
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