In this study, the antifatigue effects of acupuncture had been investigated at the metabolic level on the young male athletes with exhaustive physical exercises. After a series of exhaustive physical exercises and a short-term rest, the athletes either were treated with needling acupuncture on selected acupoints (TA group) or enjoyed an extended rest (TR group). NMR-based metabolomics analysis was then applied to depict the metabolic profiles of urine samples, which were collected from the athletes at three time points including the time before exercises, the time before and after the treatment of acupuncture, or taking the extended rest. The results from multivariate statistical analysis indicated that the recoveries of disturbed metabolites in the athletes treated with acupuncture were significantly faster than in those only taking rest. After the treatment with acupuncture, the levels of distinguished metabolites, 2-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxyisovalerate, lactate, pyruvate, citrate, dimethylglycine, choline, glycine, hippurate, and hypoxanthine were recovered at an accelerated speed in the TA group in comparison with the TR group. The above-mentioned results indicated that the acupuncture treatment ameliorated fatigue by backregulating the perturbed energy metabolism, choline metabolism, and attenuating the ROS-induced stress at an accelerated speed, which demonstrated that acupuncture could serve as an alternative fatigue-relieving approach.

Ubiquinol (QH), a reduced form of coenzyme Q10, is a lipid antioxidant that is hydro-soluble and is commonly formulated in commercial supplements. Ubiquinol has been increasingly reported to exert antioxidant functions, in addition to its role in the cell energy-producing system of mitochondria and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. The aim of this study was to assess the potential beneficial effects of QH on anti-fatigue and ergogenic functions following physiological challenge. Forty 8-week-old male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were divided into four groups (= 10 for each group): Group 1 (vehicle control or oil only); Group 2 (1X QH dose or 102.5 mg/kg); Group 3 (2X QH dose or 205 mg/kg); Group 4 (6X QH dose or 615 mg/kg). Anti-fatigue activity and exercise performance were studied using the forelimb grip strength experiment and exhaustive weight-loaded swimming time, and levels of serum lactate, ammonia, glucose, BUN (blood urea nitrogen), creatine kinase (CK), and free fatty acids (FFA) after an acute exercise challenge. The forelimb grip strength and exhaustive weight-loaded swimming time of the QH-6X group were significantly higher than those of the other groups. QH supplementation dose-dependently reduced serum lactate, ammonia, and CK levels and increased the FFA concentration after acute exercise. In addition, QH increased the liver and muscle glycogen content, an important energy source during exercise. Therefore, the results suggest that QH formulation is a safe dietary supplement for amelioration of fatigue and for promoting exercise performance.