Assessment of Hematological and Biochemical parameters with extended D-Ribose ingestion

D-ribose, a naturally occurring pentose carbohydrate, has shown benefits with negligible adverse effects. Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated the recovery benefits in depressed high-energy phosphates with D-ribose as well as functional improvements in the myocardium following ischemia and in isolated skeletal muscle [1-4]. Clinically, congestive heart failure patients have experienced improvements in their diastolic dysfunction, ventilatory efficiency, a better quality of life, and improved physical function activities when taking oral D-ribose [5-7]. The benefits in sports medicine have not been as obvious. When athletes were subjected to repetitive, high intensity exercise, Hellsten, et al. [8] reported that D-ribose provided a recovery benefit in depressed muscular high-energy phosphates in athletes subjected to repetitive, high intensity exercise. Others have also reported the benefits of D-ribose [9-13]. However, some studies did not find a beneficial role of D-ribose in sports medicine. The inconsistent results found in these studies could primarily be due to differences in study design [14-19]. Even so, ribose continues to attract the interest of athletes.Safety of supplements is important and changes in serum biochemical and/or hematological markers could provide an early indication of cellular toxicity. Published studies on D-ribose have mainly centered on acute, short-term investigations, ranging from hours to a few days [2,4,8,9,11,20]. This study was designed to evaluate biochemical and hematological parameters in healthy adults who consumed D-ribose for 14 days.We investigated the potential toxicity in hematological and biochemical markers during a 14-day supplementation of oral D-ribose. St. Cloud State University's Institutional Review Board approved this study and informed, written consent was obtained from each subject prior to participation. Twenty-one healthy, non-diabetic, adult subjects (19–25 years of age) were initially enrolled; however, o