{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T07:27:42Z","timestamp":1772609262258,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]],"date-time":"2025-03-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742515200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry of Research","award":["PON-MIUR 03PE000_78_1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PON-MIUR 03PE000_78_1"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of Research","award":["PON-MIUR 03PE000_78_2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PON-MIUR 03PE000_78_2"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The dietary supplement citrulline might increase nitric oxide levels, leading to vasodilation and improved blood flow, potentially benefiting athletes\u2019 aerobic exercise performance. However, rapid oxidative impairment of the L-arginine\/nitric oxide (NO) pathway limits these effects. This is countered by Bergamot Polyphenolic Fraction Gold\u00ae (BPFG), a strong natural antioxidant. To investigate L-citrulline + BPFG supplementation\u2019s effects, we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial on athletic performance and blood flow in trained athletes (cyclists). Methods: Random assignment of 90 male athletes resulted in nine different groups: placebo for Group 1, BPFG at 500 and 1000 mg daily for Groups 2 and 3, L-citrulline at 1000 and 2000 mg\/daily for Groups 4 and 5, and the combination product of BPFG plus citrulline (N.O. Max) for Groups 6\u20139. Baseline and 3-month pre- and post-exercise biochemical, reactive vasodilation (RHI), and maximal oxygen consumption measurements were taken for all subjects. Results: Three months of the combination of BPFG and L-citrulline (N.O. Max) produced a significant synergistic effect, markedly increasing NO (p &lt; 0.001 vs. placebo) release and RHI (p &lt; 0.001 vs. placebo). Cardiorespiratory fitness improved significantly with the BPFG and L-citrulline combination, resulting in substantially higher VO2 max, VT1, VT2, and peak power and a significantly lower heart rate (p &lt; 0.01 vs. placebo). No harmful adverse effects were observed. Conclusions: N.O. Max supplementation, providing beneficial effects on the antioxidant state and preserving the vascular endothelium might be a supplementation strategy to improve athletic performance and potentiate results. Given the small sample size, this study serves as a pilot, and further research is needed to validate these findings on a larger scale.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17071106","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]],"date-time":"2025-03-21T11:06:48Z","timestamp":1742555208000},"page":"1106","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Antioxidant Power of Bergamot Polyphenolic Fraction Gold Potentiates the Effects of L-Citrulline in Athlete Performance and Vasodilation in a Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7106-5595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rocco","family":"Mollace","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University \u201cTor Vergata\u201d of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2345-6751","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberta","family":"Macr\u00ec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7736-2207","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Serra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Ritorto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Ussia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Scarano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9091-1806","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Cardamone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Musolino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna Rita","family":"Coppoletta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Micaela","family":"Gliozzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Scipione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3509-5930","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"Carresi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kateryna","family":"Pozharova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1047-4467","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carolina","family":"Muscoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0594-7212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Barill\u00e0","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University \u201cTor Vergata\u201d of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2624-9213","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maurizio","family":"Volterrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, 00163 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0392-7173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Mollace","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research for Food Safety and Health (IRC-FSH), Department of Health Sciences, University \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"},{"name":"Renato Dulbecco Institute, 88046 Lamezia Terme, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-023-01960-8","article-title":"Sports Nutrition Ingredients and Governance, Exercise Training, and Sport Technology","volume":"53","author":"Spriet","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mart\u00edn-Rodr\u00edguez, A., Belinch\u00f3n-deMiguel, P., Rubio-Zarapuz, A., Tornero-Aguilera, J.F., Mart\u00ednez-Guardado, I., Villanueva-Tobaldo, C.V., and Clemente-Su\u00e1rez, V.J. 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