Changbai Mountain Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Mey) Extract Supplementation Improves Exercise Performance and Energy Utilization and Decreases Fatigue-Associated Parameters in Mice

Abstract

Changbai Mountain Ginseng (CMG, Panax ginseng C.A. Mey) is a traditional medicine commonly found in Northeast China and grows at elevations of 2000 m or higher in the Changbai Mountain Range. CMG, considered to be a “buried treasure medicine”, is priced higher than other types of ginseng. However, few studies have demonstrated the effects of CMG supplementation on exercise performance, physical fatigue, and the biochemical profile. The major compound of CMG extract was characterized by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Male ICR mice were divided into 3 groups, the vehicle, CMG-1X and CMG-5X groups (n = 8 per group), and respectively administered 0, 5, or 25 mg/kg/day of CMG extract orally for four weeks. HPLC-ESI-MS/MS results showed that the major compound in CMG extract is ginsenoside Ro. CMG extract significantly increased muscle weight and relative muscle weight (%). CMG extract supplementation dose-dependently increased grip strength (p < 0.0001) and endurance swimming time, decreased levels of serum lactate (p < 0.0001), ammonia (p < 0.0001), creatine kinase (CK, p = 0.0002), and blood urea nitrogen (p < 0.0001), and economized glucose levels (p < 0.0001) after acute exercise challenge. The glycogen in the gastrocnemius muscle was significantly increased with CMG extract treatment. Biochemical profile results showed that creatinine and triacylglycerol significantly decreased and total protein and glucose increased with CMG treatment. This is the first report that CMG extract supplementation increases muscle mass, improves exercise performance and energy utilization, and decreases fatigue-associated parameters in vivo. The major component of CMG extract is ginsenoside Ro, which could be a potential bioactive compound for use as an ergogenic aid ingredient by the food industry.

Red Ginseng Improves Exercise Endurance by Promoting Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Myoblast Differentiation

“…Red ginseng contains elevated levels of a variety of characteristic ginsenosides, including (20S-and 20R-) Rg3, Rh1, Rk1, and Rg5, compared to white ginseng [45,46]. According to previous studies, 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3, Rg1, and Ro improved fatigue-associated factors in vivo [27,47]. In addition, Rg1 and Rb2 were reported to induce myoblast differentiation through Akt and p38 signaling [28,29].…”

Electronic cigarette exposure reduces exercise performance and changes the biochemical profile of female mice

“…A low-force testing system (Model-RX-5, Aikoh Engineering, Nagoya, Japan) was used to measure the forelimb grip strength of treated mice as we previously described [18,19].…”

“…The stored form of glucose is glycogen, which exists mostly in liver and muscle tissue. Liver and muscle tissues were excised after the mice were sacrificed and weighed for glycogen content analysis as we described previously [17,18]. The weights of the related visceral organs were recorded.…”

Supplementation of L‐Arginine, L‐Glutamine, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, and Green Tea Extract Enhances Serum Nitric Oxide Content and Antifatigue Activity in Mice

“…A low-force testing system (Model-RX-5, Aikoh Engineering, Nagoya, Japan) has been described in our previous study [25]. e swim-to-exhaustion test involves loads corresponding to 5% of the mouse BW attached to the tails to evaluate endurance times as previously described [20,26].…”

“…Many researchers are interested in using the synergistic effects of various ingredients to delay fatigue and accelerate the elimination of fatigue-related metabolites [20]. To date, relatively few studies have directly addressed the antifatigue activity of L-arginine, L-glutamine, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and green tea extract complex (LVFG).…”