The Effects of Peanut Oligopeptides on Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Mice and Its Underlying Mechanism

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the anti-fatigue effect of peanut oligopeptides (POPs) in mice and to investigate its possible underlying mechanism. A total of 150 male ICR mice were randomly assigned into five groups: control, whey protein (0.50 g/kg·bw), and three peanut peptide groups (0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 g/kg·bw). All the mice were treated with intra-gastric administration for 30 days. Following the intervention, a weight-loaded swimming test, blood lactate concentration, glycogen content, the activities of antioxidant factors and energy metabolism enzymes, and the function of mitochondria in the skeletal muscle were examined. The results show that POP intervention significantly prolonged the exhaustive swimming time, decreased blood lactate concentration levels, regulated the process of energy metabolism, and increased the level of antioxidant enzymes, muscle glycogen, and expressions of mtTFA and NRF-1 in the mitochondria of the gastrocnemius muscle. The results suggest that POPs produce an anti-fatigue effect in the animals, and they may exert this effect through the mechanism of improving the animals’ antioxidant capacity to reduce oxidative damage levels and regulating the process of energy metabolism.

Signaling pathways regulated by natural active ingredients in the fight against exercise fatigue-a review

“…In two clinical studies, curcumin was found to reduce muscle fatigue and soreness after exercise and to reduce, lactic acid accumulation and the level of inflammatory factors, indicating its potential to alleviate sports injuries (Mallard and Briskey, 2021;Bai et al, 2022). Curcumin upregulates Nrf2, PI3K, Akt, AMPK, and mTOR protein expression in fatigued mice, possibly by acting on PI3K/ Akt/AMPK/mTOR and Nrf2 pathways, thus improving oxidative stress and energy metabolism (Chen et al, 2022c;Hu et al, 2023). Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol that exerts antifatigue effects on multiple targets, possibly by acting on core target genes, such as TP53, PIK3R1, AKT1, PIK3CA, and MAPK1 (Ma et al, 2023).…”

“…In an analysis of fermented soybean protein ( Fang and Zhang, 2022 ), peptides were found to significantly increase myoglycogen and hepatic glycogen levels, activate p-AMPK/PGC1-α and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways, mediate muscle protein synthesis and skeletal muscle hypertrophy, and provide energy to muscle cells, in addition to regulating the gut microbiota; however, it is still unclear what are the exact mechanisms related to the anti-fatigue effects of gut microbes. Intervention with peanut oligopeptides significantly increased the expression of mtTFA and NRF-1 in gastrocnemius mitochondria, suggesting that peanut oligopeptides improve mitochondrial function and promote energy metabolism by reducing damage to mitochondrial membranes due to oxidative stress, resulting in anti-fatigue effects ( Liu et al, 2023 ).…”