| Orignal Paper : β-Glucan increases treadmill running time through inhibition of serotonin expression in brains of rats during exhaustive exercise |
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| Abstract |
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β-Glucans are polysaccharides found in the bran of oat and barley cereal grains, cell wall of baker`s yeast, certain types of fungi, and many kinds of mushrooms. It is well known that over-expression of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the brain induced by exhaustive exercise reduces exercise performance. Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) is the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin biosynthesis. This study was conducted to determine the effects of β-glucan on serotonin synthesis in the brains of rats during exhaustive exercise. Animals were randomly divided into four groups: control group, exercise group, 50 mg/kg of β-glucan treatment and exercise group, and 100 mg/kg of β-glucan treatment and exercise group (n= 10 in each group). The rats in the exercise groups performed treadmill running once a day for 6 days. On the 7th day of the experiment, the time to exhaustion during treadmill running was determined for the exercise groups. In the present results, 5-HT synthesis and TPH expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and median raphe nucleus (MRN) were significantly increased by exhaustive treadmill running. Treatment with β-glucan resulted in a significant increase in the time to exhaustion in response to exhaustive running on a treadmill, along with a significant decrease in 5-HT synthesis and TPH expression in the DRN and MRN of rats. The results of the present study demonstrate that β-glucan increased endurance exercise performance through inhibition of serotonin production in the brains of rats. |
| Key Words:
β-Glucan, exhaustive performance, 5-hydroxytryptamine, tryptophan hydroxylase, rats |
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