title: [Effect of Flor-Essence on serum levels of IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α and NK cells in exercise rats].
abstract: The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of exercise and nutrition intervention on rat immune function. Flor-Essence is a kind of health food produced by FLORA company in Canada and certified by Quality Assurance International (QAI). Its main components are burdock root, cress leaves of grass, kelp, Turkish rhubarb root, et al. Flor-Essence has been shown to activate the body detoxification path, improve the physical environment, and inhibit cancer cell growth and proliferation. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups: control, NS + training, low-dose Flor-Essence + training, low-dose Flor-Essence, high-dose Flor-Essence + training, high-dose Flor-Essence groups. The rats in NS + training, low-dose Flor-Essence + training, high-dose Flor-Essence + training groups swam 35 min per day in the water tank for 6 days a week. One hour before exercise, the rats were given low- (2.5 mg/mL) or high-dose (5 mg/mL) Flor-Essence daily by intragastric administration, and the rats in NS + training group were given equivalent volume of NS. On the last day of four training weeks, all rats took part in a bout of exhaustive exercise, and then were sacrificed immediately. Arterial blood serum samples were taken for the assays of IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α contents, spleens for natural killer (NK) cells activity. The results showed that serum IL-6 content in NS + training group was decreased compared with that in control group. Low- and high-dose Flor-Essence groups showed decreased IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α serum contents, as well as longer exhaustive time, compared with control group. The improving effects of high-dose Flor- Essence on IL-6, TNF-α and exhaustive time were greater than those of low dose. Compared with NS + training, low- and high-dose Flor-Essence + training reduced serum contents of IL-6 and TNF-α, and prolonged exhaustive time; only high-dose Flor-Essence + training decreased serum IL-12 content and enhanced NK cells activity. These results suggest Flor-Essence in combination with exercise can improve rat immune function and sports performance, and the effect of high-dose Flor-Essence is better than that of low dose.
authors.affiliation: Physical Education College of Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China. lin591102@163.com.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Physical Education College of Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China.|Sports Science Research Institute of Dalian, Dalian 116031, China. hyheng228@163.com.
authors.forename: Ye-Heng
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Physical Education College of Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science of Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013550:Swimming; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C488083:flor-essence; D018664:Interleukin-12