Potential Biomarkers of Peripheral and Central Fatigue in High-Intensity Trained Athletes at High-Temperature: A Pilot Study with Momordica charantia (Bitter Melon)

Abstract

Among potent dietary supplements, Momordica charantia, commonly called bitter melon, has various biological effects, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and improves energy metabolism and fatigue recovery. However, it is unknown whether Momordica charantia extract (MCE) induces antifatigue effects during exercise training in high-temperature environments. This study aimed at investigating the efficacy of MCE by examining 10 male tennis players consuming 100 mL MCE/dose (6 times a day over 4 weeks) during the summer training season. Peripheral (ammonia and uric acid) and central (serotonin, dopamine, and prolactin) fatigue parameters were measured before and after MCE consumption; before, during, and after exercise; and the next morning. After consuming MCE supplements, ammonia levels were higher during and after exercise and recovered the next morning, whereas uric acid levels did not change at any time point. Serotonin levels were lower during exercise. Dopamine levels were higher, especially during exercise. Prolactin levels were lower at all time points, especially during and after exercise. Although high-intensity training in a hot environment causes accumulation of fatigue-related metabolites, our results indicate that 4 weeks of MCE intake positively influenced fatigue parameters, suggesting that MCE can efficiently combat fatigue.

The Potential Role of Korean Mistletoe Extract as an Anti-Inflammatory Supplementation

“…The KME group was administered an additional 110 mL of mistletoe extract before and immediately following the 2,000 m rowing exercise, prior to blood collection. Mistletoe extract was prepared according to a method validated in previous studies on natural plants [ 28 , 29 ]. The specific manufacturing process is as follows.…”

Possible adaptogenic effects of <i>Momordica charantia</i> on high-intensity training-induced alteration in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

“…Recently, we have shown that the MCE supplementation induces positive effects on fatiguerelated hormones in response to a high-temperature environment combined with high-intensity training. (16) In this study, a significant enhancement of flexibility, cardiorespiratory function, and balance in pre-post design paired test of MCE supplementation were observed in the subjects that included elite tennis players (Table 1), suggesting that MCE supplementation could benefit a diverse range of physical fitness and adequate recovery through its anti-fatigue effects.…”

“…As previously noted, M. charanitia showed anti-stress effects in animal studies. Recently, we found that M. charanitia extract (MCE) supplementation induced anti-fatigue effects on high-intensity trained athletes, resulting in significant regulation in central fatigue-related hormone release, ( 16 ) which is warranted to further investigate its influence on stress-related hormonal response, particularly in the circulating plasma levels of ACTH and cortisol.…”

Moderate-Intensity Swimming Exercises Decrease Body Weight and Lee’s Obesity Index in Female Mice (Mus musculus)

“…Swimming exercises were carried out 3 times in a week for 4 weeks with an intensity of 6% of body weight and the duration was 70% of maximum time (Prasetya et al, 2018). Morning swimming exercise was held at 08.00-09.00 AM, while night swimming exercise was held at 20.00-21.00 PM (Pranoto et al, 2020;Kwak et al, 2020). The mice were given intervention of moderate-intensity swimming exercise in the morning and at night, with water temperature maintained at 30 ± 2°C (Wierzba et al, 2006).…”