Effect of Light-emitting Diode (LED) Photobiomodulation Therapy on Muscular Fatigue in University Handball Athletes

Introduction: Low-intensity laser therapy (LBI) is a therapeutic modality with a large number of clinical studies in recent years, taking into account its effectiveness in tissue repair, pain control and, more recently, to increase performance. It is known that LED therapy has immediate effects. Therefore, analyzing the TLED in the infrared spectrum for acute responses at different times along with fatigue resistance capabilities, heart rate variability and biochemical response to fatigue in handball athletes becomes necessary. Objective: To analyze the acute effects of LED phototherapy (940nm) on fatigue resistance and recovery after strenuous exercises of university athletes. Method: The study sample will consist of 32 and 36 male athletes, for biceps brachii and quadriceps femoris, respectively. The athletes will be randomly assigned into four groups: Immediate TLED (TLED-I), TLED 15Min (TLED-15), Immediate Sham (Sham-I) and Sham 15Min (Sham-15). The tests performed will involve bioimpedance evaluation, blood lactate, electromyographic analysis and evaluation of maximum voluntary contraction by means of the maximal repetition test (1RM). Thus, the TLED will be applied on the muscle group to be evaluated, unilaterally, the same tests being repeated in the sequence. For analysis of the data, normality test will be used to verify the distribution and adequate statistical tests for the appropriate intra and intergroup comparisons, being considered two factors in the comparisons, time and group. A significance level of 5% will be adopted.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Muscular Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Fotobiomodulation

Detailed Description

It is a blinded randomized clinical trial. The athletes will undergo a previous evaluation (day 1) comprised by anamnesis and evaluation of the bioimpedance to analyze the body composition, will still carry out the evaluation of the load for a maximum repetition. Thus, 7 days after (day 2) the previous evaluation in the times immediately after and after 15 minutes of the LED application will be carried out new tests. These will involve assessment of blood lactate, heart rate variability and electromyography. In addition, during the execution of the fatigue protocol will be collected the number of repetitions of muscle contraction and its total execution time.

Due to the number of athletes that make up the university team (n = 19), cross-over will be necessary, where all athletes will initially be distributed to the 04 pre-defined groups in each subproject, and after the 7 days, they will be divided again.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 32
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • São Paulo
    • Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto / SP
      • Universidade de São Paulo

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 26 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Handball practitioners;
• Absence of musculoskeletal injury in the last three months;
• Absence of anti-inflammatory and / or analgesic drugs 72 hours before the evaluations

Exclusion Criteria:

• Use of anabolic steroids;
• Presence of cardiovascular disease
• Use of alcohol and illicit drugs during the collection period

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate LEDT Group; The 940nm LED blanket will be positioned across the full length of the biceps brachii muscle in the dominant limb immediately before the muscle fatigue protocol.	Device: Fotobiomodulation; A 16x28 cm LED blanket containing 160 LEDs will be used and will use a total energy per area of 60J, with a wavelength of 940nm, just before the muscle fatigue protocol and will be applied throughout the Biceps extension.
Experimental: LEDT Group 15Min; The 940nm LED blanket will be positioned across the length of the biceps brachii muscle in the dominant limb 15 minutes before the muscle fatigue protocol.	Device: Fotobiomodulation; A 16x28 cm LED blanket containing 160 LEDs will be used and will use a total energy per area of 60J, with a wavelength of 940nm, just before the muscle fatigue protocol and will be applied throughout the Biceps extension.
Sham Comparator: Immediate Sham Group; The 940nm LED blanket will be positioned throughout the biceps brachii muscle in the dominant limb, however, it will not be ligated, with no light emission, immediately prior to the muscle fatigue protocol.	Device: Fotobiomodulation; A 16x28 cm LED blanket containing 160 LEDs will be used and will use a total energy per area of 60J, with a wavelength of 940nm, just before the muscle fatigue protocol and will be applied throughout the Biceps extension.
Sham Comparator: Sham Group 15Min; The 940nm LED blanket will be positioned throughout the biceps brachii muscle in the dominant limb, however, it will not be ligated, with no light emission, 15 minutes before the protocol of muscle fatigue.	Device: Fotobiomodulation; A 16x28 cm LED blanket containing 160 LEDs will be used and will use a total energy per area of 60J, with a wavelength of 940nm, just before the muscle fatigue protocol and will be applied throughout the Biceps extension.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Difference in number of repetitions	The present study was designed to detect the difference in the number of repetitions between the groups groups, after the interventions.	2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Sao Paulo
• Investigators: Study Director: Rinaldo RJ Guirro, University of Sao Paulo

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Leal Junior EC, Lopes-Martins RA, Rossi RP, De Marchi T, Baroni BM, de Godoi V, Marcos RL, Ramos L, Bjordal JM. Effect of cluster multi-diode light emitting diode therapy (LEDT) on exercise-induced skeletal muscle fatigue and skeletal muscle recovery in humans. Lasers Surg Med. 2009 Oct;41(8):572-7. doi: 10.1002/lsm.20810.
• Ferraresi C, Dos Santos RV, Marques G, Zangrande M, Leonaldo R, Hamblin MR, Bagnato VS, Parizotto NA. Light-emitting diode therapy (LEDT) before matches prevents increase in creatine kinase with a light dose response in volleyball players. Lasers Med Sci. 2015 May;30(4):1281-7. doi: 10.1007/s10103-015-1728-3. Epub 2015 Feb 27.
• de Almeida P, Lopes-Martins RA, De Marchi T, Tomazoni SS, Albertini R, Correa JC, Rossi RP, Machado GP, da Silva DP, Bjordal JM, Leal Junior EC. Red (660 nm) and infrared (830 nm) low-level laser therapy in skeletal muscle fatigue in humans: what is better? Lasers Med Sci. 2012 Mar;27(2):453-8. doi: 10.1007/s10103-011-0957-3. Epub 2011 Jul 22.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 18, 2019
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 1, 2021
• Study Completion (Anticipated): October 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 27, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 31, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): June 3, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 22, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2021
• Last Verified: March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physiotherapy; Athletic performance; LED; Muscle resistance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Fatigue
• Other Study ID Numbers: Photobiomodulation on Strength

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: The data will be shared in manuscript form

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No