Comparative study among Corn silk, Pumpkin Seeds, and Creatine to test the efficiency of physical activity in rat

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Nutrition and Food Sci. Dept, Faculty of Home Economics, Helwan Univ., Cairo-Egypt.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of corn silk,pumpkin seeds and creatine supplementation on kidney function, liver function, glucose, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase in adult male rats subjeced to exercise training. Fifty male albino rats, were fed on basal diet for one week for adaptation. During the adaptive week all rats (except negative control group) were exposed to day after day forced treadmill running exercise for 10 min. Rats were divided into two main groups, the first main group (n=10 rats) was fed on basal diet only and served as negative control group. The second main group (exercised rats) were divided into 4 subgroups (10 rats each) as follows:-Subgroup 1: were fed on basal diet and had run for 10, 15, 20 and 25minutes(15 days for each time periodrespectively) to complete 60 days, and served as positive control group. And the rest of Subgroups (2-4) were fed on basal diet supplemented with 4% corn silk powder, 4% pumpkin seeds powder and 4% creatine powder, respectively as the same exercise of positive control subgroup. At the end of the experimental period (60 day), each subgroup were exposed to the exhausting treadmill test and the run time was recorded, then all experimental rats were scarified.From the obtained results we concluded that pumpkin seed have bioactive compounds that elevate the exercise performance ,and prolong the exhaustive time ,corn silk  have a good effect in glucose level by increasing insulin level and recovering injured beta cells, and not via increasing glycogen or inhibiting gluconeogenesis ,although creatine  recorded the largest glycogen quantity in gastrocnemius muscles among supplemented groups, but it caused an elevation of ammonia,AST ,and uric acid levels when exposed to exhaustive time test . So future  studies are recommended to clarify creatine benefit in exercise field .The study advised to consume corn silk and pumpkin seed to prolong exercise time and accelerate recovery from exercise training.

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