Abstract

Jujube is an important plant in traditional Chinese medicine and is recommended for the treatment of some diseases such as tumors and cardiovascular disease related to the production of radical species resulting from oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to investigate effect of jujube extract on oxidative injury in heart muscles of exhausted training rats. Four groups of animals were studied: (a) sedentary control (n = 8); (b) vehicle-treated control (n = 8); (c) low dose of jujube extract-treated rats (n = 8); (d) high dose of jujube extract-treated rats (n = 8). Jujube extract-treated rats were orally given 100 or 300 mg/kg body weight jujube extract for 30 days, respectively. Then, all the rats (except for sedentary rats) were submitted twice to 15-min swimming bouts on two different days. Results showed that jujube extract could reduce heart lipid peroxidation level and Bax expression, increase heart antioxidant enzymes activities and Bcl-2 expression, and improve heart function.

Key words: Exhausted training, rat, jujube, oxidative.