Oral administration of ginseng berry concentrate improves lactate metabolism and increases endurance performance in mice

Abstract

In the present study, to determine the efficacy of oral supplementationof ginseng berry extracts in augmenting exercise performanceand exercise-associated metabolism, male mice weregiven orally 200 and 400 mg/kg of body weight (BW) of GBCfor nine weeks. Although there are no differences in pre-exerciseblood lactate levels among (1) the control group that receivedneither exercise nor GBC, (2) the group that performedonly twice-weekly endurance exercise, and (3) and (4) the groupsthat combined twice-weekly endurance exercise with either200 or 400 mg/kg GBC, statistically significant reductions inpost-exercise blood lactate levels were observed in the groupsthat combined twice-weekly endurance exercise with oral administrationof either 200 or 400 mg/kg GBC. Histologicalanalysis showed no muscle hypertrophy, but transcriptomeanalysis revealed changes in gene sets related to lactate metabolismand mitochondrial function. GBC intake increased nicotinamideadenine dinucleotide levels in the gastrocnemius, possiblyenhancing the mitochondrial electron transport system andlactate metabolism. Further molecular mechanisms are neededto confirm this hypothesis.