Abstract:

The effect of polysaccharides extracted from pumpkin peel (PPPs) on the exhaustive swimming time and related
physiological indexes in mouse models of aging induced by D-galactose was investigated. Mice were randomly divided into
normal control group, aged model group, low-dose PPPs group (125 mg/(kg·d)), middle-dose PPPs group (250 mg/(kg·d)),
and high-dose PPPs group (500 mg/(kg·d)). The aging model was induced by D-galactose at a dose of 100 mg/(kg·d) for
60 consecutive days. The mice in three PPPs groups were administered with PPPs by gavage from day 41 onward for the
next 20 days, while those in the normal control and aged model groups with distilled water. After the last administration,
exhaustive swimming time and the contents of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), blood lactic acid (BLA), hepatic glycogen (HG),
muscle glycogen (MG), MDA, SOD and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined. The results showed that PPPs could
extend the exhaustive swimming time, decrease the contents of BUN, BLA and MDA, and obviously increase the reservation
of HG, MG, SOD and LDH. In conclusion, PPPs have an excellent anti-fatigue effect in mice.

Key words: polysaccharides extracted from pumpkin peel, D-galactose, anti-fatigue effect, exhaustive swimming time