title: Effects of (-) -epigallocatechin gallate in liver of an animal model of combined (physical and mental) fatigue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fatigue can be classified as physical and mental depending on the cause. However, in our daily lives, combined fatigue, which is the combination of physical and mental fatigue, is most often experienced. In this study, the effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) on combined fatigue were assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  To produce an animal model of combined fatigue, rats were kept in a cage filled with water to a height of 1.5 cm for 5 d. To evaluate the extent of fatigue, the rats swam with a load of steel rings that weighed approximately 8% of their body weight and were attached to their tails.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fatigued rats treated with EGCg (50 or 100 mg/kg intraperitoneally [not for 25 mg/kg]) for 5 d could swim longer than fatigued animals given saline. Although levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in the plasma, brain, and skeletal muscle were not different between control and fatigued rats, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels were higher in livers of fatigued animals than in livers of control animals. Oral intake of EGCg (50 or 100 mg/kg) for 5 d significantly decreased thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels in livers of fatigued animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that EGCg (50 or 100 mg/kg) is effective for attenuating fatigue. EGCg given orally appears to have an antioxidant effect on the oxidatively damaged liver of fatigued animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. masa-t@msic.med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Yoshitake
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Yosky
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kinbara
authors.forename: Yuko M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Sagesaka
authors.forename: Takami
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakuda
authors.forename: Yasuyoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005221:Fatigue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D002392:Catechin; C045651:epigallocatechin gallate