Abstract:Objective: To study the effects of Lepidium meyennii on the content of testosterone, correlated hormones and anti-fatigue ability of rats after exercise. Method: By using the model of high-intensity endurance training, fifty-five 6-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, with 10 in each group (5 rats which did not meet the requirement were removed):still in control group (C group), motion control group (M group), exercise+ig low-dose L. meyennii group (OML group), exercise+ig middle-dose L. meyennii group (OMM group), and exercise+ig high-dose L. meyennii group (OMH group). Gavage was performed using professional device once a day. The rats in L. meyennii groups were gavaged with 0.2, 0.4, 1.2 g· kg-1 with ig volume of 5 mL· kg-1. The rats in C and M groups were given saline of same volume. After 42 days of exhaustive swimming training, body weight, swimming time and serum testosterone and other biochemical markers were measured. Result: Body weight of the rats in M groups was lower than those in C group (P<0.05), and those in all doses of L. meyennii groups were higher than in M group (P<0.05) which did not show any differences among groups. Swimming time in all doses of L. meyennii groups were longer than in M group (P<0.01), and there were dose-response. But there were no differences between C and M groups. Serum testosterone in M group was lower than C group (P<0.01), in the same time, serum testosterone were higher in all doses of L. meyennii groups than M group[OML:(4.78±1.58) nmol· L-1;OMM:(4.95±1.54) nmol· L-1;OMH:(5.06±1.59) nmol· L-1, P<0.01]. The serum corticosterone levels in each group showed no significant differences. Changes in the ratio of serum testosterone/corticosterone were more consistent with testosterone changes among the groups. There were no differences in luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone among C group and M group. But luteinizing hormone in all doses of L. meyennii groups were higher than in M group (P<0.01). In the mean time, follicle-stimulating hormone in all doses of L. meyennii groups were higher than in M group (P<0.01). There were no differences in both luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone between groups in all doses of L. meyennii groups. Conclusion: The supplement of L. meyennii can alleviate the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis function disorder caused by exercise through multiple targets and multiple ways. Finally, L. meyennii can prevent the decrease of serum testosterone after high-intensity exercise and improve anti-fatigue ability.
