January 2016
H. Qu | L. An

 

Abstract

Objective: This paper aims to study the anti-fatigue effect of Tribulus terrestris in sports food, which provides theoretical and practical basis for the prevention of exercise fatigue.

Methods: 24 healthy SD rats were divided into control group, exercise fatigue group and Tribulus terrestris + exercise fatigue group. After seven-day adaptive feeding, the two experimental groups took five-week increasing load treadmill training.

The rats in Tribulus terrestris + exercise fatigue group took intragastric administration of Tribulus terrestris extract once a day before exercise. By the fourth week, 24 hours after the training, the blood was obtained from the orbital venous plexus of each narcotized rat; the liver and spleen of each rat were frozen for later use; their abdominal venous blood was collected; the numbers of natural killer cells and natural killer T cells of the rats were detected by a flow cytometer; the content of hemoglobin and muscle glycogen in the rats was detected by Sysmex automatic blood cell analyzer.

Results: In comparison with control group, there was an evident decrease in the weights and NK cell numbers of the rats in exercise fatigue group, indicating that in the exercise fatigue group, the exercise-induced immune of the rats with exercise fatigue was suppressed.

In comparison with exercise fatigue group, numbers of NK and NKT cells of the rats in Tribulus terrestris + exercise fatigue group increased significantly (even greater than those of the control group), which showed that Tribulus terrestris extract could enhance the immunity of the rats which took excessive exercise and improve their fatigue resistance.

In comparison with the control group, hemoglobin and muscle glycogen content of the rats in exercise fatigue group decreased more obviously, while a significant increase of hemoglobin and muscle glycogen level was found in Tribulus terrestris + exercise fatigue group (with no significant difference from the control group).

Conclusion: Tribulus terrestris extract can improve the exercise-induced immune-suppression of the rats with exercise fatigue and enhance their antifatigue ability.