In view of the increasing burden of training and competition in elite sports, the monitoring of training load and recovery is becoming increasingly important. The measurement of muscle damage through special markers from the blood (for example creatine kinase, ...) and the determination of the immune status are among the most commonly used monitoring methods.
However, limiting the regular use of immune monitoring in competitive sports seems to be the necessity of venous blood sampling. Capillary blood from the earlobe has not yet been used for examinations, although the benefits (small sample size, ease of removal, athlete compliance) are obvious. This study is funded by the Austrian Olympic Committee and aims to establish quality criteria (repeatability and accuracy) for immune monitoring. Comparisons between venous and capillary blood samples at rest and after previous physical exercise will be conducted.

Duartion: 2017-2018

Co-operation partner:
Department of Sport Science (Sport and Exercise Physiology, Training Science)
Austrian Institute Funds for Sports Medicine (ÖISM)

Project leader: Assoz. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Barbara Wessner / Contact person: barbara.wessner@univie.ac.at