Adaptive and maladaptive changes in the chemical profile of highly skilled athletes

Aim. The article aims to study the profiles of macro- and microelement content in young highly skilled athletes from Magadan. Material and methods. The content of 25 chemical elements (Al, As, B, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Se, Si, Sn, V, Zn) obtained from the hair samples of 55 young males was determined using inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry with the Agilent 8900 ICP-MS unit. Statistical processing of the research results was performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software package. Results. All the examined males regardless of their sports specialization were significantly lower in Se, Co, and Cr compared to the baseline group. The adaptive shifts in the chemical profile of highly skilled athletes include the following: increased P, Fe, and Cu in swimmers; high P and Zn in wrestlers; formation of the stable complexes of the socalled thyroid-specific (I, Se, Mg, Zn), immunostimulating (Co, Se, Cu, Mg, Zn), regenerating (Zn, Se), antidiabetic (Cr, I, Se) and antioxidant (Ca, Se, Zn, I) elements; a better adaptive capacity compared with the baseline group. Conclusion. The study of macro- and micronutrient content and the analysis of elemental relationships in highly skilled athletes suggests the formation of adaptive and maladaptive features. Due to the deficiency of essential elements, the chemical profile of athletes tends to balance by increasing the number of elemental bonds for better functioning under increased physical and psychoemotional stress.