Effects of Ginsenoside Rg1 on Gene Expression of TFAM and NRF-1 in Skeletal Muscle of Fatigued Mice

Abstract:

The anti-fatigue effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on fatigue model mice and its influence on mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1) gene expression in skeletal muscle were investigated. Seventy male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into seven groups. Besides the blank group, mice were injected intraperitoneally with cyclophosphamide to create an immunodeficiency model. And then the mice were subjected to the full-load swimming exhaustion experiment. Changes in fatigue-related indexes in liver and skeletal muscle of mice were determined by ELISA. The expression levels of TFAM and NRF-1 genes in the skeletal muscle of mice were detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the duration of weight-bearing swimming was the longest in the middle dose group of ginsenoside Rg1, which increased by 271.4% compared with that of the blank group. The content of liver glycogen was significantly increased. The level of MDA in liver of mice in each dose group decreased, while the level of LDH increased. Medium dose of ginsenoside Rg1 could significantly increase the expression of TFAM mRNA and NRF-1 mRNA levels in the skeletal muscles of mice. Ginsenoside Rg1 could effectively adjust the fatigue-related biochemical indicators in skeletal muscle of fatigue mice, exhibiting better anti-fatigue effect.