02.- Effects of a paddle match on the urinary excretion of trace minerals in high-level players

Purpose. — Trace elements are micronutrients involved in the maintenance of an optimum phys- iologic state which allows paddle players, a sport little studied until now, to have an adequate performance.
Methods.—Seven urinary trace elements of 16male high-level players were analyzed using ICP-MS chromatography before and after a paddle competition match. To contrast the results, t-Student and Wilcoxon tests were used.

Results.—Copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) increased significantly its urinary excretion (P < 0.05). No changes in arsenic (As), molybdenum (Mo) and selenium (Se) were observed and lithium (Li) decreased its values significantly (P < 0.05) after the effort.

Conclusions.—The acute effect of a high-level paddle match is not entirely clear, since it has heterogenic effects on the minerals excretion: the biological elimination of some metals involved in antioxidant and energetic functions increased, which seems to indicate a rise in its organic metabolism, whereas other minerals did not seem to be affected by this type of efforts. Li excretion decreased, which might be a sign of a homeostatic retention process of this element.