Anti-Fatigue Activity of Aqueous Extracts of Sonchus arvensis L. in Exercise Trained Mice.

Tian Yuan,Xintong Tan,Bo Ren,Beita Zhao,Jia Wang,Keyu Sun,Di Wu,Xuebo Liu,Tong Zhao,Zhigang Liu

doi:10.3390/molecules24061168

Tian Yuan, Xintong Tan + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24061168

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Abstract

Sonchus arvensis L. is a nutritious vegetable and herbal medicine that is consumed worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-fatigue effects and underlying effects of aqueous extract of Sonchus arvensis L. (SA). Male C57BL/6 mice from four groups designated vehicle, exercise, exercise with low dose (250 mg/kg) or high dose of SA (500 mg/kg), were trained by swimming exercise and orally administrated with SA every other day for 28 days. The anti-fatigue activity was determined by exhaustive swimming test, as well as the muscle structure, levels of blood hemoglobin, and metabolites including lactate and urea nitrogen. SA alleviated mice fatigue behaviors by eliminating metabolites, while improving muscle structure and hemoglobin levels. Moreover, SA enhanced glycogen synthesis of liver but not muscle via increasing GCK and PEPCK gene expressions. Importantly, SA improved antioxidant enzymes expression and activities in both liver and muscle, which was possibly related to its primary components polysaccharides and the antioxidant components including chlorogenic acid, luteolin, and chicoric acid. Taken together, the anti-fatigue effects of SA could be partly explained by its antioxidant activity and mediating effects on glycogen synthesis and metabolites elimination. Therefore, SA could be a potential nutraceutical for improving exercise performance and alleviating physical fatigue.

Highlights

Physical fatigue is a complex physiological process, and can be defined as time-dependent exercise and stress-induced difficulty in sustaining regular voluntary activities [1]
The animals were divided into four groups: vehicle control, exercise control (EC), exercise with low dose Sonchus arvensis L. (SA) treatment (EC + LSA), and exercise with high dose SA treatment (EC + HSA)
The results demonstrated that the high dose intake of SA could change the length of hind limb muscle, but had no significant effect on the width, which indicated that the anti-fatigue effects of SA could be possibly related to the muscle structure changes

Summary

Introduction

Physical fatigue is a complex physiological process, and can be defined as time-dependent exercise and stress-induced difficulty in sustaining regular voluntary activities [1]. The oxidative stress and damages induced by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the muscle or other related organs such as liver [3]. The blood-oxygen concentration balance and the glycogen homeostasis in liver and muscle support sustainability and recovery during and after exercise [4]. The beneficial effects of herbal medicine and nutraceuticals on physical fatigue have been widely investigated in recent decades [1,5,6,7]. These natural products have been found to postpone fatigue and improve exercise performance by eliminating aforementioned metabolites, reducing oxidative stress, or improving glycogen metabolism. It has been investigated that the extract of Sonchus arvensis L

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