title: Antifatigue effect ofGracilaria eucheumoidesin mice.
abstract: Gracilaria eucheumoidesLinn (Gracilariaceae;G. eucheumoides) is abundant in dietary fiber, which aids the clearance of excess cholesterol from the blood and maintains stable blood glucose levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antifatigue effect ofG. eucheumoidesin mice and the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying this effect. Mice were randomly divided into four groups and three of the groups were administered different doses ofG. eucheumoidesextract. A loaded swimming test demonstrated that the swimming times of the low-, medium- and high-dose groups were longer than those of the control group. Examinations revealed that the liver and muscle glycogen, lactate dehydrogenase and blood glucose concentration levels of the treatment groups were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). However, this was not the case for lactic acid concentration (P>0.05). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that the gene expression levels of glucose transport protein 4 and AMP-activated protein kinase in the medium-dose group exhibited the largest increases, compared with the other treatment groups, and were 3.0- and 1.8-fold higher than those in the control group, respectively. The results of the present study indicated thatG. eucheumoidesexerts an antifatigue effect on mice.
authors.affiliation: Physical and Military Training Department, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jin-Ting
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Mei-Yan
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lu-Bin
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: AMP-activated protein kinase; glucose transport protein 4; physical symptoms; seaweed