Anti-fatigue activity of purified flavonoids prepared from chestnut (Castanea mollissima) flower
Fei Peng, Hongyang Yin, Bin Du, Kui Niu, Xin Ren, Yuedong Yang
Abstract
Castanea mollissima Blume has been used to treat a variety of diseases in Chinese traditional medicine. This study was aimed to examine the anti-fatigue effect of purified Chestnut flower flavonoids (CFF) in mice and its underlying mechanisms using the weight-loaded swimming test. The study revealed that the content of total flavonoids in CFF was 754.20 mgRE/gdm, which identified six main types of flavonoids, myricetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-O-glucoside, kaempherol-3-O-rutinoside, isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol, respectively. CFF showed excellent free radical scavenging and anti-fatigue effect. Notably, CFF significantly prolonged the swimming time of mice, while down-regulating the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood lactic acid (BLA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatine kinase (CK), and increasing liver and muscle glycogen. Meanwhile, CFF suppressed exercise-elicited oxidative stress through promoting the SOD activity and reducing the MDA level. Furthermore, CFF up-regulated PGC-1α and PPARα expression in mouse skeletal muscle. In conclusion, these findings indicate that CFF exerts an anti-fatigue effect presumably via energy reserves and oxidative stress inhibition.