Hematologic, biochemical, and physiologic characteristics of elite and professional basketball players

Objectives:The aim of this studywas to investigate the hematologic, biochemical,and physiologiccharacteristics of male elite and professional basketball players during an annualtrainingseason. Materials and Methods:This studyincluded 18–34-year-old healthy males (eliteand professional basketball athletes) and involved VO₂ max andcountermovement jump performance tests, andmeasurements ofhematocrit, hemoglobin, ferritin, red blood cell volume, creatine kinase,and cortisol levels. Blood sampling was conductedatthe beginning, mid-way, and at completion of the training season after a 48-hrest period. Statistical analysis was performed via SPSS(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.00) and included t-tests and two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) with and without repeated measures. Results: There was no difference between the groups in terms of anthropometric characteristics. Elite athletes showeda 12.4% increase in VO₂max compared to professional athletes. Regarding hematologic parameters, elite athletes were characterized by a 3.87% decrease in hematocrit levels mid-season as well as a 4.62% decrease in hemoglobin levels at the end of the training season compared to professional athletes.In terms of intra group differences within the training period, serum creatine kinase levels were 53.5% higherfor the elite athletesmid-season compared to the two abovementioned measurements at the beginning and the end of the training season. Conclusion: In an effort to elucidatethe effect of training season and athletic level on hematologic, biochemical, and physiologic parameters,we showed that the performance level greatly affected the hematologic and biochemical profile.More importantly, hematocrit, hemoglobin, and serum creatine kinase werethe parameters that were mostly affected. Our results indicate the importance of athletic level and different training regimens at different parts of the training season. However, more research is needed to explore the biological significance of the current findings.