Effects of oat β-glucan on endurance exercise and its anti-fatigue properties in trained rats

Oat β-glucan was purified from oat bran and its effects on running performance and related biochemical parameters were investigated. Four-week-old male Sparsgue-Dawley rats, fed with/without oat β-glucan (312.5 mg kg(-1) d(-1)) for 7 weeks, were subjected to run on a treadmill system to make them exhausted. All rats were immediately sacrificed after prolonged exercise, and the major metabolic substrates were measured in serum and liver. The results showed feeding dietary oat β-glucan to rats could significantly reduce the body weight and increase the maximum running time compared with normal control (P<0.05). Furthermore, dietary oat β-glucan decreased the levels of blood urea nitrogen, lactate acid, and creatine kinase activity in serum, and increased the levels of non-esterified fatty acids, lactic dehydrogenase activity in serum, and the content of liver glycogen. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that dietary oat β-glucan can enhance the endurance capacity of rats while facilitating their recovery from fatigue.