β-glucan Salecan Improves Exercise Performance and Displays Anti-Fatigue Effects through Regulating Energy Metabolism and Oxidative Stress in Mice

Abstract

Fatigue induced by prolonged exercise not only leads to the decrease of exercise capacity, but also might be the cause of many diseases. In consideration of the side effects of pharmacological drugs, dietary supplements seem to be a better choice to ameliorate exercise-induced fatigue. The present study aimed to investigate the anti-fatigue effect of Salecan, a novel water-soluble β-glucan, during exercise and explore the underlying mechanisms. Male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were divided into five groups, including the Rest group and the other four Swim-groups treated with Salecan at 0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day for four weeks. Salecan treatment markedly increased the exhaustive swimming time of mice in the forced swimming test. Exercise fatigue and injury-related biochemical biomarkers including lactate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine kinase (CK), alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) were ameliorated by Salecan. Salecan reversed the decreased serum glucose levels and glycogen contents caused by exercise. In addition, Salecan improved oxidative stress induced by exercise through regulating Nrf2/HO–1/Trx signaling pathway. Thus, the beneficial effects of Salecan against fatigue may be due to its positive effects on energy metabolism and antioxidation defence. Our results suggest that Salecan could be a novel potential candidate for anti-fatigue dietary supplements.

Small Molecule Oligopeptides Isolated from Walnut (Juglans regia L.) and Their Anti-Fatigue Effects in Mice

“…The weight-loaded forced swimming test is the most commonly used animal model to evaluate the extent of fatigue [3]. A longer swimming time indicates the increase of exercise capacity and reduced susceptibility to fatigue [20,21]. As shown in Figure 1, in comparison with the vehicle group (323.40 ± 107.99), the swimming time of mice in in all three WOPs groups was longer (WOPs-LG: 511.65 ± 107.58; WOPs-MG: 556.33 ± 104.13; WOPs-HG: 657.53 ± 130.90) and the difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.01).…”

“…Several blood biochemical indicators were used to evaluate the degree of muscle fatigue and to explore the underlying mechanism, such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatine kinase (CK) and blood glucose [3,20]. In the present study, we examined whether WOPs could cause positive effects on these related biochemical parameters in the serum sample of mice (Figure 2).…”

“…Repeated, intense physical labor results in a decline in performance known as fatigue, which can induce a series of pathological and physiological impairments and alterations, and causing mechanism dysfunction including endocrine, immune, and metabolic imbalance [29,30]. The weight-loaded forced swimming test is a valid experimental protocol used widely for reflecting the degree of exercise of endurance and fatigue in laboratory animals, and screening the anti-fatigue activities of certain agents [4,20,31,32]. In the study, the results of weight-loaded swimming test demonstrated that WOPs treatment significantly prolonged the time to exhaustion of mice, indicating that WOPs possesses an anti-fatigue effect, and 440 mg/kg is the optimal dose, which showed the longest mean swimming time when compared with the vehicle group (Figure 1).…”

β-Glucan Improves Conditions of Chronic Fatigue in Mice by Stimulation of Immunity

“…In our clinical trial, we found significant anti-inflammatory effects of glucan supplementation in cancer-related fatigue [39]. In addition, numerous studies published lately showed that glucan improved exercise performance [40], improved syndromes of chronic fatigue syndrome via improved levels of GSH and SOD in the brain [41] and enhanced the endurance capacity while improving the fatigue-related recovery [41,42]. The possible mechanisms suggested by these studies are improvements in oxidation and regulation of energy metabolism by glucan.…”

The Preventive Effects of Pterostilbene on the Exercise Intolerance and Circadian Misalignment of Mice Subjected to Sleep Restriction

“…Several biochemical parameters were used to evaluate the extent of muscle fatigue and muscle damage, including BUN, LDH, and CK. [ 31–33 ] The concentration of LDH and CK were significantly increased in SR mice compared with mice in CON group, while PTE treatment remarkably reduced them both (Figure 2B,C). The level of BUN increased significantly in SR mice, but there was no significant difference between mice of SR group and SR+PTE group (Figure 2D).…”