Effect of Etahnolic Extract from Sasa borealis on Endurance Exercise

Capacity in Mice

Performance Enhancing Effect of Sasa Borealis

Yanghee You

, Kyungmi Kim

, Yongjae Kim

3,4

, Jeongmin Lee

and Woojin Jun

1,3

Research Institute for Human Ecology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea

Department of Biofood Analysis, Korea Bio Polytechnic, Chungnam, Korea

Division of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea

Korea INS Pharm Research Institute, Jeollanamdo, Korea

Department of Medical Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Korea

1 OBJECTIVES

Bamboo leaves have been used for thatching

material, fodder, food wrapper, and traditional

medicine. In medicinal protocols, they have been

adopted for use as a common fever remedy, as well

as for detoxification and to control irritability,

insomnia, and diabetes. However, data supporting

the performance enhancing effect of bamboo leaves

are lacking. In the present study, we investigated the

stimulatory effects of ethanolic extract from Sasa

borealis (SBE), one of major bamboo species in

Korea, on exercise endurance capacity.

2 METHODS

The leaves of S. borealis was refluxed with 20 L of

80% ethanol at 250°C for 3 h. The extract was then

concentrated and lyophilized. Four-week-old male

ICR mice (19+2 g b.w.) were housed in cages under

automatically controlled air-conditions of

temperature (22±2°C), humidity (about 50%), and

lighting (12:12-h light-dark cycle). To determine the

swimming capacity, the mice were divided by body

weight and similar swimming time. The mice of

each group (n=8) orally administered 0-, 100-, 250-,

and 500-mg/kg/day of SBE (Control, SBE100,

SBE250, and SBE500, respectively) for 21 days.

The exhaustive swimming time was investigated in

mice using an adjustable-current water pool. The

mice were assessed to be exhausted when they failed

to rise to the surface of the water to breathe.

Blood

lactate and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were

measured by commercial kit. Hepatic glycogen level

was assayed by the spectrophotometric method. The

level of lipid peroxidation was evaluated by

thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)

quantities using malondialdehyde (MDA) as an

external standard.

3 RESULTS

Compared to the control group, 1.6-fold increases in

swimming time were observed in SBE250 and

SBE500 (Fig. 1). The blood lactate levels of

SBE250- and SBE500-mice were significantly lower

than that of the control mice (Fig. 2). Also, a

significant increase in the NEFA level was revealed

in the ethanolic extract-administered groups (Fig. 3).

The levels of glycogen in SBE250- and SBE500-

mice were noticeably higher than that of the control

group after exhaustive swimming (Fig. 4). The mice

that received SBE250 and SBE500 showed the

significant decreases in MDA level in comparison

with the control group (Fig. 5).

4 DISCUSSION

The increased exhaustive swimming time by the

administration of SBE250 and SBE500 indicates

that ethanolic extract of S. borealis possessed the

potential to increase the endurance exercise capacity.

Lactate is an important indicator of fatigue (You et

al, 2009), and NEFA during exercise is an indicator

of fat utilization (Jung et al, 2004). The lactate level

of the ethanolic extract-administered mice was

reduced and the NEFA level was elevated compared

to the control mice. The remaining hepatic glycogen

after exhaustive exercise, an indicator of saving

carbohydrate utilization (Kim et al, 2012), was also

increased in the mice treated with the ethanolic

extract from S. borealis. These suggest that SBE250

and SBE500 improved the energy metabolism.

You Y., Kim K., Kim Y., Lee J. and Jun W..

Effect of Etahnolic Extract from Sasa borealis on Endurance Exercise Capacity in Mice - Performance Enhancing Effect of Sasa Borealis.

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

Exercise-induced oxidative stress is characterized by

hepatic MDA level (You et al, 2009). The oral

administered group with SBE250 and SBE500

alleviated the lipid peroxidation. Based upon these

results, SBE250 and SBE500 could ameliorate the

swimming capacity by improving energy

metabolism and decreasing oxidative stress,

indicating that leaves of S. borealis can be a useful

performance-enhancing agent.

Figure 1: Effects of Ethanolic Extracts from Sasa borealis

leaves on Swimming Capacity. Different letters above the

bar are statistically different (p<0.05).

Figure 2: Effects of Ethanolic Extracts from Sasa broealis

Leaves on Lactate Levels. Different letters above the bar

are statistically different (p<0.05).

Figure 3: Effects of Ethanolic Extracts from Sasa borealis

Leaves on NEFA Levels. Different letters above the bar

are statistically different (p<0.05).

Figure 4: Effects of Ethanolic Extracts from Sasa broealis

Leaves on Glycogen Levels. Different letters above the bar

are statistically different (p<0.05).

Figure 5: Effects of Ethanolic Extracts from Sasa broealis

leaves on MDA Levels. Different letters above the bar are

statistically different (p<0.05).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was financially supported by the

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)

and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology

(KIAT) through the Promoting Regional Specialized

Industry.

REFERENCES

Jung, K., Kim, IH., Han, D., 2004. Effect of medicinal

plant extracts on forced swimming capacity in mice. J.

Enthopharmacol. 93, 75-81.

Kim, J.H., Kim, J., Park, Y., 2012. Trans-10, cis-12

conjugated linoleic acid enhances endurance capacity

by increasing fatty acid oxidation and reducing

glycogen utilization in mice. Lipids. 47, 855-863.

You, Y., Park, J., Yoon, H.G., Lee, Y.H., Hwang, K., Lee,

J., Kim, K., Lee, KW., Shim, S., Jun,

W., 2009. Stimulatory effects of Ferulic acid on

Endurance Exercise Capacity in Mice, Biosci. Biotechnol.

Biochem. 73, 1392-1397.