The Effect of Fermented Porcine Placental Extract on Fatigue-Related Parameters in Healthy Adults: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Antidepressant Effect of Enzymatic Porcine Placenta Hydrolysate in Repeated Immobilization Stress-Induced Ovariectomized Female Mice

When postmenopausal women are under stress conditions, this exacerbates mood disorders and issues with neuroimmune systems. The porcine placenta is known to relieve menopausal depression in clinical trials, but its underlying mechanisms for depression and anti-inflammatory functions remain poorly defined. The present study was designed to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of enzymatic porcine placenta hydrolysate (EPPH) on LPS-induced levels of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), corticosterone (CORT), and pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. In addition, the neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells was evaluated to examine the effects of EPPH on neurite growth. To mimic the symptoms of women with menopause-related depression, a stressed ovariectomized (OVX) female mouse model was used to evaluate the antidepressant effects of EPPH. The female mice were randomly divided into five groups: (1) the sham-operated (Sham) group, (2) the OVX + repeated stress + saline-treated (OVX + ST) group, (3) the OVX + repeated stress + estradiol (0.2 mg/kg)-treated (positive control) group, (4) the OVX + repeated stress + EPPH (300 mg/kg)-treated (300) group, and (5) the OVX + repeated stress + EPPH (1500 mg/kg)-treated (1500) group. Female mice were OVX and repeatedly immobilization-stressed for 2 weeks (2 h/day). A tail suspension test was conducted on the 13th day, followed by the forced swimming test on the 14th day to assess the antidepressant effects of EPPH. After the behavioral tests, the levels of CORT, PGE2, and IL-1β were evaluated. In addition, c-Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The concentrations of NO, PGE2, and IL-1β stimulated by LPS were significantly reduced via the addition of EPPH to RAW 264.7 cells. EPPH significantly promoted neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells compared to that of the controls. In the tail suspension test, the duration of immobility was reduced in mice treated with EPPH 1500 compared to the OVX + ST group. The EPPH 1500 group had significantly decreased levels of c-Fos-positive neurons in the PVN and reduced levels of CORT and IL-1β in the serum of the Sham group. These results suggested that the high dose of EPPH administration induced the antidepressant-like effect in the ovariectomized mice with repeated stress via downregulating the levels of CORT, IL-1β, and PGE2 in the serum through reducing the expression of c-Fos in the PVN regions.

Fermented foods: Harnessing their potential to modulate the microbiota-gut-brain axis for mental health

Over the past two decades, whole food supplementation strategies have been leveraged to target mental health. In addition, there has been increasing attention on the ability of gut microbes, so called psychobiotics, to positively impact behaviour though the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Fermented foods offer themselves as a combined whole food microbiota modulating intervention. Indeed, they contain potentially beneficial microbes, microbial metabolites and other bioactives, which are being harnessed to target the microbiota-gut-brain axis for positive benefits. This review highlights the diverse nature of fermented foods in terms of the raw materials used and type of fermentation employed, and summarises their potential to shape composition of the gut microbiota, the gut to brain communication pathways including the immune system and, ultimately, modulate the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Throughout, we identify knowledge gaps and challenges faced in designing human studies for investigating the mental health-promoting potential of individual fermented foods or components thereof. Importantly, we also suggest solutions that can advance understanding of the therapeutic merit of fermented foods to modulate the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Shuyu decoction exhibits anti-fatigue properties via alleviating exercise-induced immune dysfunction

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Shuyu decoction (SYD), an effective traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been widely used for treating deficiency-related diseases for thousands of years. Meanwhile, exercise-induced fatigue (EF), a common physiological phenomenon observed in physical training, has been treated as a deficient condition in TCM for decades. Currently, not many studies have been conducted on the effect of SYD on EF and little is known about its underlying pharmacological mechanism.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This current study was designed to assess the anti-fatigue roles of SYD and explore its effect on exercise-induced immune dysfunction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eighteen rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control (NC) group, model (M) group, and SYD group (27.8 g/kg). The M and SYD group were given treadmill training for 6 weeks. From the fourth week, the SYD group was administered SYD intragastrically for 3 consecutive weeks. After three weeks of treatment, the rats were anesthetized, and the blood and spleen tissue samples were dissected. The blood sample was devoted to the blood biochemical-related indicators, which were used to evaluate the anti-fatigue of SYD. The expression of Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-17, CD3+, and CD4+ were detected by ELISA and the level of CD8+ of blood was measured through Flow Cytometry (FC). The histopathological changes of spleen tissue samples were determined by Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and an estimation of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ expression of spleen tissues were calculated through FC.

RESULTS

Compared with the M group, the SYD group observed an increase in tensile force and the ratio of cortisol to testosterone (TTE/COR), whereas a reduction in the levels of lactic acid (LAC), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatine kinase (CK), (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). ELISA experiments showed that SYD reduced the expressions of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, IL-17 and increased the expression of IL-10 (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). In the HE test, SYD treatment transformed the structure of the spleen. FC experiments further showed that SYD increased the expressions of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ in blood and spleen tissues (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that SYD can alleviate EF by improving inflammation and immunity. However, the relationship between inflammatory factors and the related immune response remains to be further investigated.

Establishment and identification of an animal model of long-term exercise-induced fatigue

In competitive sports, the training load is close to the human physiological limit, which will inevitably lead to exercise-induced fatigue. If fatigue cannot be recovered in time, it will eventually lead to excessive training and affect sport performance. Therefore, fatigue has become an important part of the physical function assessment for athletes. This paper will review animal models of long-term exercise-induced fatigue, modeling schemes of mice under treadmill and swimming training, phenotypes of long-term exercise-induced fatigue (e.g., nervous system damage, myocardial cell damage, bone mineral density changes, and skeletal muscle damage), and fatigue indicators. The relationship between physiological indicators and biomarkers and long-term exercise-induced fatigue is analyzed to promote exercise-induced fatigue monitoring. This paper attempts to provide a reference for the selection of animal models of long-term exercise-induced fatigue and provide a new theoretical basis for medical supervision and recovery of exercise-induced fatigue.