Evaluation of anti-fatigue activity of total saponins of Radix notoginseng

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Several biological activities of total saponins of Radix notoginseng (TSRN), a trational Chinese medicine have been reported. The present study was carried out to investigate anti-fatigue activity of TSRN in male Kunming mice. METHODS: Mice were divided into four groups. The first group designated as control group was administered with distilled water by gavage every day. The second, third and fourth groups designated as TSRN treatment groups were administered with TSRN of 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. The treatment continued for 28 days. Exhaustive swimming time, blood lactate and tissue glycogen contents of mice after swimming were determined. RESULTS: TSRN extended exhaustive swimming time of mice, effectively delayed the increase of lactate in the blood, as well as increased the tissue glycogen contents. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: TSRN showed promising anti-fatigue activity in animal model. However, further study is needed to elucidate the mechanism of the effect of TSRN on fatigue.