~ 106 ~ Journal of Sports Science and Nutrition 2023; 4(2): 106-111 E-ISSN: 2707-7020 P-ISSN: 2707-7012 JSSN 2023; 4(2): 106-111 Received: 09-06-2023 Accepted: 15-07-2023 Christopher R Harnish Department of Exercise Science, Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Virginia, USA Brian Miller Department of Health Science, Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Virginia USA Corresponding Author: Christopher R Harnish Department of Exercise Science, Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Virginia, USA Transdermal carnosine gel fails to improve repeated Wingate performance in trained male cyclists: A randomized controlled cross-over trial Christopher R Harnish and Brian Miller DOI: https://doi.org/10.33545/27077012.2023.v4.i2b.193 Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a transdermal carnosine (TC) gel improved repeated Wingate sprint performance in trained cyclists. Methods: Fifteen trained male cyclists completed three cycling sessions that included a 15-sec sprint to estimate glycolytic capacity (VLaMax) followed by five Wingate sprints with 4 to 5-min of active recovery. Session 1 served as a final familiarization trial, while sessions 2 and 3 utilized a randomized application of either 10 ml of placebo or 10 ml of a mentholated TC gel to the legs at least 60-min prior to the session. Blood lactate concentration (BLC) and power output were measured during the session. A 3 X 5 crossover design with a repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to explore statistical differences (α = 0.05) in two main effects. Results: Mean VLaMax and 15-sec power were 0.74 + 0.31 mM . sec -1. L -1 and 748.6 + 135.2 W, respectively, while mean Wingate peak BLC and 30-sec power of 16.8 + 2.6 mM and 584.7 + 78.3 W, respectively, and mean rest time between sprints was 278.7 + 11.2 sec. There were no statistically significant improvements in any performance measure between familiarization, placebo, or TC gel sessions, with five showing a significant (p=0.0380) decrease in total and significantly (p=0.0127) higher BLC after TC treatment. Conclusions: A single recommended dose of TC gel did not improve repeated Wingate sprint performance in trained male cyclists. Even after elimination of nocebo subjects, performance improvement was still negligible. Keywords: Beta-alanine, cycling, Wingate, transdermal, blood lactate Introduction There are numerous factors associated with or potentially mitigating fatigue during exercise. The generation of lactic acid and its subsequent rapid dissociation to lactate and H + has long been associated with fatigue during very high intensity exercise [1, 2] . While lactate itself has not only been ruled out as a “fatigue villain” [3] , evidence does suggest that increased H + and a subsequent drop in pH may negatively impact several aspects of muscle power output by inhibiting phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity, oxidative phosphorylation, or Ca 2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum [2] . Therefore, ingestion of buffering agents like bicarbonate have long been used to improve performance [4] , while more recently supplements like carnosine and its precursor beta-alanine have garnered a great deal of interest as performance aids [5, 6] . Carnosine, aka, beta-alanyl-L-histidine, is a naturally occurring histidine containing dipeptide and is found in high levels in the muscle and is known to play many roles in the body [7] . Of particular interest to exercise physiology is carnosine’s role as an intracellular buffer [7, 8] . While oral carnosine supplementation fails to elevate plasma or muscle carnosine levels adequately, beta-alanine (BA), a non-essential amino acid produced in the liver, has been shown to be safe and effective at increasing muscle carnosine levels and improving specific high-intensity activities [5, 6, 9-12] . For example, Saunders et al. [12] showed that 12- weeks of BA supplementation improved repeated sprint running performance. Similarly, both 4-min cycling time trial and repeated 30-sec sprint performance has been shown to improve with as little as 4-weeks of BA supplementation [9, 10] . There is limited evidence, however, on the acute ingestion of BA or other routes of administration [8, 13] . In addition to ingestion, carnosine can be absorbed across the skin.