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Planta Med 1999; 65(3): 239-244
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-14081
Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Effects of a Standardized Panax ginseng Extract on the Skeletal Muscle of the Rat: A Comparative Study in Animals at Rest and Under Exercise

A. Ferrando, L. Vila, J. A. Voces, A. C. Cabral, A. I. Alvarez, J. G. Prieto
  • Department of Physiology of the University of León, Spain
Further Information

Publication History

July 28, 1998

November 22, 1998

Publication Date:
31 December 1999 (online)

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Abstract:

The effect of standardized Panax ginseng extract G115 on enzymatic activities, myotypological composition, capillaries and mitochondrial content was studied in the skeletal muscle of male rats Wistar. Simultaneously to the G115 administration the rats performed exercise. The animals were divided into 4 groups. The dose of the ginseng extract G115 was 50 mg/kg. The length of the experimental period was 12 weeks. After 24 hours of inactivity the muscles of the hindlimb were extracted. With regard to the enzymatic activities of the citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), CS increases with exercise, while the LDH undergoes no major variations, either due to the exercise or the treatment. Treatment with G115 increases the capillary density and the mitochondrial content of the red gastrocnemius muscle. The results suggest that prolonged treatment with G115 increases the capillary density and the oxidative capacity of the muscles with greater aerobic potential in a manner similar to the performance of physical exercise. When exercise and treatment are combined, the effects that are obtained separately are not potentiated.

Key words:

Panax ginseng - Araliaceae - skeletal muscle - rat - mitochondrial content - capillar density - aerobic exercise

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