Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the potential effects of Porphyridium cruentum (PC) on fatigue induced by forced swimming test in mice.
 Methods: Mice were randomly divided into normal control group (NC, i.e., untreated non-swimming); model control group (MC, untreated swimming); Spirulina treated group (SP, 800 mg/kg); PC-treated groups (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg), respectively. After intragastric administration for 14 consecutive days, a weight-bearing swimming experiment was conducted for the mice, and the biochemical indicators related to fatigue were examined, including exhaustive swimming time, glucose levels (Glu), hepatic glycogen contents (HG), muscle glycogen contents (MG), glutathione peroxidase activities (GSH-Px), creatine kinase (CK), malondialdehyde (MDA), urea nitrogen levels (SUN), lactate dehydrogenase activities (LDH), lactic acid (LA) as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD).
 Results: PC significantly prolonged the swimming endurance time compared to MC. After PC treatment, Glu, HG and MG were effectively increased dose-dependently, SUN, LA, LDH and CK levels in serum were significantly reduced. Moreover, PC treatment elevated the bioactivities of two antioxidant enzymes, namely, GSH-Px and SOD, while MDA content decreased when compared to MC group.
 Conclusion: These results indicate that PC exhibits strong anti-fatigue effect. Thus, PC may be suitable for incorporation in functional food to counter fatigue.
Highlights
Porphyridium cruentum (PC), a unicellular red microalgae mainly produced in tropical and subtropical regions, is a potential source of biofuel, food and pharmaceutical [1]
glucose levels (Glu) level in PC-L, PC-M, PC-H and SP group was increased by 23.4, 68.4, 73.6 and 76.8 %, respectively compared to MC group
The results suggest that PC had no toxic effect on the animals and no negative effect on their body weight after 14-day consecutive treatment, which indicates that the PC doses used were safe for mice
Summary
Porphyridium cruentum (PC), a unicellular red microalgae mainly produced in tropical and subtropical regions, is a potential source of biofuel, food and pharmaceutical [1]. The commercial kits for biochemical analysis of hepatic glycogen (HG), muscle glycogen (MG), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA), lactic acid (LA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were provided by Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute (Nanjing, Jiangsu, China). Male Kunming mice (20 ± 2 g) were purchased from Medical Experimental Animal Center of Guangdong Province (Foshan, China). Forced swimming test was performed based on previous research [4] with modest modifications. An hour after the final administration, 10 mice of each experimental group were used for forced swimming test and loaded by lead wires of 5 % body weights attached to the tails. The remaining 10 mice of each group were forced to swim for continuous 90 min without load except the NC group. Values of p < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant
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