Effects of glutamine on exercise-induced fatigue, skeletal muscle oxidation and liver cell apoptosis in rats

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of glutamine on exercise-induced fatigue, skeletal muscle oxidation and liver cell apoptosis in rats. Methods: Twenty SPF grade SD rats aged at 8 week and weight from 180 to 220 g, were divided into control group and glutamine-treated group after one week of feeding, 10 rats in each group. The rats in the glutamine group were treated with glutamine at the dose of 1.0 g/(kg·d)by intragastric administration, and the rats in control group were administrated with equal volume of normal saline. After 7 days, the exhaustion test was conducted, the content of glutathione (GSH) was detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), lactic acid (2-hydroxypropanoic acid (LD) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the creatine kinase(CK) was detected by electroluminescence. Activities of CK, Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA were detected by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. Results: The duration of exhaustion in the glutamine group was greater than that in the control group (P＜0.05). The serum glutathione level in the glutamine group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). After exhaustion, the levels of GSH, SOD and MDA in serum and skeletal muscle of the glutamine group were higher than those of the control group significantly differences (P＜ 0.05). The serum Bax mRNA level in the glutamine group was lower than that in the control group significantly (P＜0.05). The serum bcl-2 mRNA level in the glutamine group was higher than that in the control group significantly (P＜0.05). Conclusion: Glutamine can effectively alleviate exercise-induced fatigue in rats, reduce the oxidation degree of skeletal muscle, and decrease the apoptosis rate of liver cells.