Supplementation of L-Arginine, L-Glutamine, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, and Green Tea Extract Enhances Serum Nitric Oxide Content and Antifatigue Activity in Mice

Yi-Ming Chen; Huashuai Li; Yen-Shuo Chiu; Chi-Chang Huang; Wen-Chyuan Chen

doi:10.1155/2020/8312647

Supplementation of L-Arginine, L-Glutamine, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, and Green Tea Extract Enhances Serum Nitric Oxide Content and Antifatigue Activity in Mice

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Apr 11:2020:8312647. doi: 10.1155/2020/8312647. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Yi-Ming Chen¹, Huashuai Li², Yen-Shuo Chiu^{3

4}, Chi-Chang Huang², Wen-Chyuan Chen^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Health Technology College, Jilin Sport University, Changchun 130022, Jilin, China.
² Graduate Institute of Sports Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan City 33301, Taiwan.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 23561, Taiwan.
⁴ School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 11031, Taiwan.
⁵ Center for General Education, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan 33301, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sleep Center, Linkou-Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 33301, Taiwan.

Abstract

It has been reported that abundant nitric oxide content in endothelial cells can increase exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of a combined extract comprising L-arginine, L-glutamine, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and green tea extract (LVFG) on nitric oxide content to decrease exercise fatigue. Male ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) mice were randomly divided into 4 groups and orally administered LVFG for 4 weeks. The 4-week LVFG supplementation significantly increased serum nitric oxide content in the LVFG-1X and LVFG-2X groups. Antifatigue activity and exercise performance were evaluated using forelimb grip strength, exhaustive swimming test, and levels of serum lactate, ammonia, glucose, and creatine kinase (CK) after an acute swimming exercise. LVFG supplementation dose-dependently improved exercise performance and nitric oxide content, and it dose-dependently decreased serum ammonia and CK activity after exhaustive swimming test. LVFG's antifatigue properties appear to manifest by preserving energy storage (as blood glucose) and increasing nitric oxide content. Taken together, our results show that LVFG could have the potential for alleviating physical fatigue due to its pharmacological effect of increasing serum nitric oxide content.