Anti-fatigue effect of hypericin in a chronic forced exercise mouse model

Ninjin'yoeito reduces fatigue-like conditions by alleviating inflammation of the brain and skeletal muscles in aging mice

Fatigue can lead to several health issues and is particularly prevalent among elderly individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions. Ninjin'yoeito, a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, is used to address fatigue and malaise, anorexia, and anemia. This study aimed to examine whether relieving inflammation in the brain and skeletal muscle of senescence-accelerated mice prone 8 (SAMP8) could reduce fatigue-like conditions associated with aging. First, SAMP8 mice were divided into two groups, with and without ninjin'yoeito treatment. The ninjin'yoeito-treated group received a diet containing 3% ninjin'yoeito for a period of 4 months starting at 3 months of age. At 7 months of age, all mice underwent motor function, treadmill fatigue, and behavioral tests. They were then euthanized and the skeletal muscle weight, muscle cross-sectional area, and concentration of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) in both the brain and skeletal muscle were measured. The results showed that the ninjin'yoeito-treated group had higher motor function and spontaneous locomotor activity than the untreated group did and ran for significantly longer in the treadmill fatigue test. Moreover, larger muscle cross-sectional area, lower IL-1β concentrations, and higher IL-1RA concentrations were observed in both the brain and skeletal muscle tissues of the ninjin'yoeito-treated group than in the untreated group. The results suggest that ninjin'yoeito improves age-related inflammatory conditions in both the central and peripheral tissues and reduces fatigue.

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

Exercise fatigue is a normal protective mechanism of the body. However, long-term fatigue hinders normal metabolism and exercise capacity. The generation and recovery from exercise fatigue involves alterations in multiple signaling pathways, mainly AMPK, PI3K/Akt, Nrf2/ARE, NF-κB, PINK1/Parkin, and BDNF/TrkB, as well as MAPK signaling pathways that mediate energy supply, reduction of metabolites, oxidative stress homeostasis, muscle fiber type switching, and central protective effects. In recent studies, a rich variety of natural active ingredients have been identified in traditional Chinese medicines and plant extracts with anti-fatigue effects, opening up the field of research in new anti-fatigue drugs. In this review we give an overview of the signaling pathways associated with the activity of natural food active ingredients against exercise fatigue. Such a comprehensive review is necessary to understand the potential of these materials as preventive measures and treatments of exercise fatigue. We expect the findings highlighted and discussed here will help guide the development of new health products and provide a theoretical and scientific basis for future research on exercise fatigue.

From Plants to Psycho-Neurology: Unravelling the Therapeutic Benefits of Bioactive Compounds in Brain Disorders

The brain's sensitivity to oxidative stress and neuronal cell death requires effective pharmacotherapy approaches. Current pharmacological therapies are frequently ineffective and display negative side effects. Bioactive chemicals found in plants may provide a potential alternative due to their antioxidant and neuroprotective properties and can be used in therapy and the management of a variety of neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurodegenerative illnesses. Several natural products, including vitamin C, Cammelia sinensis polyphenols, Hypericum perforatum, and Crocus sativus have shown promise in lowering oxidative stress and treating symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). Similarly, bioactive compounds such as curcumin, luteolin, resveratrol, quercetin, and plants like Acorus gramineus, Rhodiola rosea, and Ginkgo biloba are associated with neuroprotective effects and symptom improvement in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, in neurodegenerative diseases, natural compounds from Rhodiola rosea, Morinda lucida, and Glutinous rehmannia provide neurological improvement. Further study in clinical samples is required to thoroughly investigate the therapeutic advantages of these bioactive substances for persons suffering from these illnesses.

Effect of vitamin energy drinks on relieving exercise-induced fatigue in muscle group by ultrasonic bioimaging data analysis

OBJECTIVE

This work was aimed to analyze the effect of vitamin energy drink on muscle fatigue by surface electromyography (SEMG) and ultrasonic bioimaging (USBI).

METHODS

20 healthy men were selected to do increasing load fatigue test. Surface electromyographic signals and ultrasonic biological images were collected based on wavelet threshold function with improved thresholds. Time domain and frequency domain characteristic integrated electromyography (IEMG), root mean square amplitude (RMS), average power frequency (MPF), and surface and deep muscle morphological changes were analyzed. Hemoglobin concentration (HB), red blood cell number (RBC), mean volume of red blood cell (MCV), blood lactic acid (BLA), malondialdehyde (MDA), and phosphocreatine kinase (CK) were measured.

RESULTS

1) the Accuracy (94.10%), Sensitivity (94.43%), Specificity (93.75%), and Precision (94.07%) of the long and short-term memory (LSTM) specificity for muscle fatigue recognition were higher than those of other models. 2) Compared with the control group, the levels of BLA, MDA, and CK in the experimental group were decreased and HB levels were increased after exercise (P < 0.05). 3) IEMG and RMS of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group, and increased with time (P < 0.05). 4) The mean amplitude of the response signal decreased with time. Compared with the control group, the surface muscle thickness, deep muscle thickness, total muscle thickness, contrast, and homogeneity (HOM) decreased in the experimental group; while the angular second moment (ASM) and contrast increased, showing great differences (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Surface electromyographic signal and ultrasonic biological image can be used as auxiliary monitoring techniques for muscle fatigue during exercise. Drinking vitamin energy drinks before exercise can relieve physical fatigue to a certain extent and promote the maintenance of muscle microstructure.

Anti-fatigue Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicines: A Review

A third of the world's population suffers from unexplained fatigue, hugely impacting work learning, efficiency, and health. The fatigue development may be a concomitant state of a disease or the side effect of a drug, or muscle fatigue induced by intense exercise. However, there are no authoritative guides or clinical medication recommendations for various fatigue classifications. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) are used as dietary supplements or healthcare products with specific anti-fatigue effects. Thus, TCM may be a potential treatment for fatigue. In this review, we outline the pathogenesis of fatigue, awareness of fatigue in Chinese and western medicine, pharmacodynamics mechanism, and substances. Additionally, we offer a comprehensive summary of fatigue and forecast the potential effect of novel herbal-based medicines against fatigue.

Hypericum Genus as a Natural Source for Biologically Active Compounds

Hypericum L. genus plants are distributed worldwide, with numerous species identified throughout all continents, except Antarctica. These plant species are currently used in various systems of traditional medicine to treat mild depression, wounds and burns, diarrhea, pain, fevers, and their secondary metabolites previously shown, and the in vitro and/or in vivo cytotoxic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, and hepatoprotective activities, as well as the acetylcholinesterase and monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities. We conducted a systematic bibliographic search according to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines to answer the question: "What is known about plants of Hypericum genus as a source of natural products with potential clinical biological activity?" We documented 414 different natural products with confirmed in vitro/in vivo biological activities, and 58 different Hypericum plant species as sources for these natural products. Phloroglucinols, acylphloroglucinols, xanthones, and benzophenones were the main chemical classes identified. The selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells, cell protection, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-Alzheimer's, and adipogenesis-inhibition biological activities are described. Acylphloroglucinols were the most frequent compounds with anticancer and cell-protection mechanisms. To date, no work has been published with a full descriptive list directly relating secondary metabolites to their species of origin, plant parts used, extraction methodologies, mechanisms of action, and biological activities.

Antioxidant Biomolecules and Their Potential for the Treatment of Difficult-to-Treat Depression and Conventional Treatment-Resistant Depression

Major depression is a devastating disease affecting an increasing number of people from a young age worldwide, a situation that is expected to be worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. New approaches for the treatment of this disease are urgently needed since available treatments are not effective for all patients, take a long time to produce an effect, and are not well-tolerated in many cases; moreover, they are not safe for all patients. There is solid evidence showing that the antioxidant capacity is lower and the oxidative damage is higher in the brains of depressed patients as compared with healthy controls. Mitochondrial disfunction is associated with depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders, and this dysfunction can be an important source of oxidative damage. Additionally, neuroinflammation that is commonly present in the brain of depressive patients highly contributes to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). There is evidence showing that pro-inflammatory diets can increase depression risk; on the contrary, an anti-inflammatory diet such as the Mediterranean diet can decrease it. Therefore, it is interesting to evaluate the possible role of plant-derived antioxidants in depression treatment and prevention as well as other biomolecules with high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential such as the molecules paracrinely secreted by mesenchymal stem cells. In this review, we evaluated the preclinical and clinical evidence showing the potential effects of different antioxidant and anti-inflammatory biomolecules as antidepressants, with a focus on difficult-to-treat depression and conventional treatment-resistant depression.