Effects of Astaxanthin Supplementation on Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Mice

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine the effect of astaxanthin on endurance capacity in male mice aged 4 weeks. Mice were given orally either vehicle or astaxanthin (1.2, 6, or 30 mg/kg body weight) by stomach intubation for 5 weeks. The astaxanthin group showed a significant increase in swimming time to exhaustion as compared to the control group. Blood lactate concentration in the astaxanthin groups was significantly lower than in the control group. In the control group, plasma non-esterfied fatty acid (NEFA) and plasma glucose were decreased by swimming exercise, but in the astaxanthin group, NEFA and plasma glucose were significantly higher than in the control group. Astaxanthin treatment also significantly decreased fat accumulation. These results suggest that improvement in swimming endurance by the administration of astaxanthin is caused by an increase in utilization of fatty acids as an energy source.

Antifatigue and sport performance enhancement effects of safflower extracts in mice

“…Blood lactate is an important indicator for judging the degree of fatigue (Yu et al, 2008;Lin et al, 2005). It has been reported that blood lactate accumulates during exercise (Grenhaff and Timmonns, 1998;Ikeuchi et al, 2006). Results in Figure 1 showed that the BLA of mice in 0.3 ml safflower extract group (C) was significantly lower than that in control group (A, p < 0.05) after forced swimming exercise.…”

“…Each of the mice had a weight attached (6% body weight) to the tail for the duration of the swimming exercise. The mice were assessed to be fatigued when they failed to rise to the surface of the water to breathe within 5 s (Ikeuchi et al, 2006(Ikeuchi et al, , 2009 …”

“…Second, exercise causes the production and accumulation of products of metabolism, such as lactic acid. Third, exercise promotes the mobilization and consumption of energy sources such as glycogen (Grenhaff and Timmonns, 1998;Ikeuchi et al, 2006). In addition, "over exercise" diminishes the brain's supply of oxygen, which leads to fatigue (Ding and Li, 2009).…”

Differential Effects of Astaxanthin on Oxidative Key Enzyme and Capillarization in the Deep and Superficial Layers of Unloading-induced Atrophied Muscle

“…Previous studies have shown that astaxanthin enhances lipid metabolism and endurance 20,21) , and enhanced endurance may be associated with the capillarization observed in the CA group, and the prevention of capillary regression observed in the HA group. Despite these findings, it is important to note that astaxanthin does not prevent muscle atrophy.…”

Beneficial Effects of Bioactive Peptides Derived from Soybean on Human Health and Their Production by Genetic Engineering

“…Second, exercise causes the production and accumulation of products of metabolism, such as lactic acid. Third, exercise promotes the mobilization and consumption of energy sources such as glycogen (Ikeuchi et al, 2006). In addition, overexercise diminishes the brain's supply of oxygen, which leads to fatigue.…”