title: Astragalus membranaceus improves exercise performance and ameliorates exercise-induced fatigue in trained mice.
abstract: Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is a popular "Qi-tonifying" herb with a long history of use as a Traditional Chinese Medicine with multiple biological functions. However, evidence for the effects of AM on exercise performance and physical fatigue is limited. We evaluated the potential beneficial effects of AM on ergogenic and anti-fatigue functions following physiological challenge. Male ICR strain mice were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 10 per group) for treatment: (1) sedentary control and vehicle treatment (vehicle control); (2) exercise training with vehicle treatment (exercise control); and (3) exercise training with AM treatment at 0.615 g/kg/day (Ex-AM1) or (4) 3.075 g/kg/day (Ex-AM5). Both the vehicle and AM were orally administered for 6 weeks. Exercise performance and anti-fatigue function were evaluated by forelimb grip strength, exhaustive swimming time, and levels of serum lactate, ammonia, glucose, and creatine kinase after 15-min swimming exercise. Exercise training combined with AM supplementation increased endurance exercise capacity and increased hepatic and muscle glycogen content. AM reduced exercise-induced accumulation of the byproducts blood lactate and ammonia with acute exercise challenge. Moreover, we found no deleterious effects from AM treatment. Therefore, AM supplementation improved exercise performance and had anti-fatigue effects in mice. It may be an effective ergogenic aid in exercise training.
authors.affiliation: School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Shao
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory Animal Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 33301, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Ching
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Sports Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 33301, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Sports Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan 33301, Taiwan. john5523@ntsu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chi-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. meichich@kmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Mei-Chich
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D027885:Astragalus propinquus / Q000737:chemistry*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005221:Fatigue / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006003:Glycogen / Q000378:metabolism; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D051379:Mice; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances; D019344:Lactic Acid; D006003:Glycogen; D003402:Creatine Kinase