Combined Effects of Exercise and Phytoanabolic Extracts in Castrated Male and Female Mice

Dry extracts from the Eurasian plants, Ajuga turkestanica, Eurycoma longifolia, and Urtica dioica have been used as anabolic supplements, despite the limited scientific data on these effects. To assess their actions on early sarcopenia signs, male and female castrated mice were supplemented with lyophilized extracts of the three plants, isolated or in association (named TLU), and submitted to resistance exercise. Ovariectomy (OVX) led to body weight increase and non-high-density cholesterol (HDL) cholesterol elevation, which had been restored by exercise plus U. dioica extract, or by exercise and TLU, respectively. Orchiectomy (ORX) caused skeletal muscle weight loss, accompanied by increased adiposity, being the latter parameter reduced by exercise plus E. longifolia or U. dioica extracts. General physical activity was improved by exercise plus herbal extracts in either OVX or ORX animals. Exercise combined with TLU improved resistance to fatigue in OVX animals, though A. turkestanica enhanced the grip strength in ORX mice. E. longifolia or TLU also reduced the ladder climbing time in ORX mice. Resistance exercise plus herbal extracts partly altered gastrocnemius fiber size frequencies in OVX or ORX mice. We provide novel data that tested ergogenic extracts, when combined with resistance exercise, improved early sarcopenia alterations in castrated male and female mice.

Phytoecdysteroids Do Not Have Anabolic Effects in Skeletal Muscle in Sedentary Aging Mice

Skeletal muscle mass and strength are lost with aging. Phytoecdysteroids, in particular 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), increase protein synthesis in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells and muscle strength in young rats. The objective of this study was to determine whether an extract from Ajuga turkestanica (ATE), enriched in phytoecdysteroids, and 20E affect skeletal muscle mass and fiber size, fiber type, activation of the PI3K–Akt signaling pathway, and the mRNA levels of MAFbx, MuRF-1, and myostatin in sedentary aging mice. Aging male C57BL/6 mice (20 months old) received ATE, 20E, or vehicle (CT) once per day for 28 days or a single acute dose. Treatment did not alter body, muscle, or organ mass; fiber cross-sectional area; or fiber type in the triceps brachii or plantaris muscles. Likewise, protein synthesis signaling markers (i.e., phosphorylation of AktSer473 and p70S6kThr389) measured after either 28 days or acutely were unchanged. Neither ATE nor 20E treatment for 28 days affected the mRNA levels of MAFbx, MuRF-1, and myostatin. In conclusion, these data indicate that phytoecdysteroid treatment does not alter muscle mass or fiber type, nor does it activate protein synthesis signaling in the skeletal muscle of sedentary aging mice.

Obtaining and Characteristics of Plant Cell Cultures of Аjuga turkestanica (Rgl.) - Producing of Phytoexdystroides

Callus cultures of Ajuga turkestanica (Rgl.) Briq. (Lamiaceae) were obtained from a wild plant, and the processes of morphogenesis in these cultures were studied. Depending on the hormonal composition of media, it is possible to obtain gemmogenesis or rhizogenesis in the first 6 to 8 growth cycles; after 10-15 growth cycles, the ability of morphogenesis was lost. Suspension cell cultures were initiated from some well-growing calluses. As a result, about one hundred calluses and suspension cell lines were obtained from the Ajuga turkestanica plant cells, a number of which were characterized by intensive growth and were analyzed by the HPLC-MS method for the presence of phytoecdysteroids. In most of the investigated lines, 20-hydroxyecdysone and turkesterone were found, the content of the first being 30-50 times higher than the second (in the most productive lines, 2.0-2.5 mg/g and 0.04-0.05 mg/g dry weight, respectively). An increase in the content of phytoecdysteroids in the in vitro cultivated cells by the end of the growing cycle was observed. However, phytoecdysteroids were not found in many of the obtained cell lines. Further research is needed to clarify the reasons for the presence or absence of phytoecdysteroids in Ajuga turkestanica plant cell cultures. Ajuga turkestanica, plant cell culture, growth regulators, differentiation, gemmogenesis, rhizogenesis, phytoecdysteroids, 20-hydroxy ecdysone, turkesterone The work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (№ 16-14-00126).