Chinese Herbal Supplements Effectively Enhance Muscular Endurance

September 06, 2022

(Provided by Professor Chung-Hsin Wu and his research team from the School of Life Science) In Taiwan, approximately 10-20% of seniors over the age of 65 have been diagnosed with sarcopenia or myasthenia gravis, both of which lead to frailty, falls or bone fractures and in severe cases, death. The study of Professor Chung-Hsin Wu and his research team has found that Chinese herbal supplements (CHS) can help to enhance contractility and endurance in skeletal muscle, and reduce the chance of sarcopenia or myasthenia gravis in senior individuals. They chose CHS such as Ginseng, Schizandra, Ophiopogon, and Danshen to create B307 formula, and examined its effects on the muscle endurance of ICR mice after exhaustive swimming. Their results showed that B307 can enhance muscle endurance after exhaustive swimming via reducing fatigue, oxidative stress, and inflammation, and then alleviating muscle damage caused by exhaustive exercise. Interestingly, B307 not only increases muscle nutrition and blood oxygen supply, it also promotes muscle contractility and endurance via increasing calcium influx in nerve and muscle cells. Furthermore, B307 also improves cardiac muscle contractility and endurance by increasing calcium influx in cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, their results suggest that CHS can help alleviate myasthenia gravis in senior individuals.   When people engage in unaccustomed or high-intensity exercise, exercise-induced muscle damage (EMID) arises, which is often accompanied by inflammatory responses that continue for 3-5 days. During this period, discomfort and soreness are also common; this is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). When competitive athletes undergo a significant increase in volume or intensity of training during training or competition periods, such a problem may arise. Several studies have proven that continuous physical training when EIMD is already present results in a decrease in muscle function which then affects physical performance, diminishing muscle strength, endurance, and power. Without a sufficient recovery period, athletes often underperform or suffer from higher levels of muscle fatigue. Overexercise may affect hormone regulation and hence cause oxidative stress and muscle damage. Unlike exercising for health, athletes are expected to engage in rigorous training every day to improve their athletic performance. It is therefore important to develop supplements that can protect muscles from oxidative stress, inflammation, and damage. It was reported that Danggui Buxue Tang (blood supplementing angelica soup) proved to have anti-fatigue effects for male mice after forced swimming. We have previously reported that B307 formula can effectively alleviate oxidative stress, inflammation, and damage in the myocardium. The main herbal ingredients in B307 are Ginseng, Schizandra, Ophiopogon, and Danshen. We believe that B307 may be an appropriate sports supplement to protect muscles against oxidative stress and inflammation for athletes training under high exercise intensity. The study assessed the effects of B307 on muscle endurance and recovery after exhaustive swimming in ICR mice. The results showed that B307 can enhance muscle endurance after exhaustive swimming via suppressing fatigue, oxidative stress, and inflammation, while also alleviating muscle fatigue caused by exhaustive exercise (Figure 1). It has been proven in many studies that B307 not only enhances contractility in skeletal muscles, but can also improve cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, and cognitive functions (figure 2), as well as help alleviate myasthenia gravis in senior individuals. Figure 1: The results showed that Chinese herbal supplements can enhance muscle endurance after exhaustive swimming via suppressing fatigue, oxidative stress, and inflammation while also alleviating muscle fatigue caused by exhaustive exercise   Figure 2: Chinese herbal supplements can effectively improve cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, and cognitive functions.    Source: https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.1652