Objective: To study the effects of Arctii Fructus on the content of testosterone

correlated hormones and anti-fatigue ability of rats after exercise. Method: By using the model of high-intensity endurance training

fifty-five 6-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups

with 10 in each group (5 rats which did not meet the requirement were removed):still in control group (C group)

motion control group (M group)

exercise+ig low-dose Arctii Fructus group (AML group)

exercise+ig middle-dose Arctii Fructus group (AMM group)

and exercise+ig high-dose Arctii Fructus group (AMH group). Gavage was performed using professional device once a day. The rats in Arctii Fructus groups were gavaged with 0.5

1

3 g · kg-1 with ig volume of 5 mL · kg-1. The rats in C and M groups were given saline of same volume. After 42 days of exhaustive swimming training

body weight

swimming time and serum testosterone and other biochemical markers were measured. Result: Body weight of the rats in M groups lower than that in C group (P<0.05)

and that in all doses of Arctii Fructus groups was higher than in M group (P<0.05) which did not show any differences between groups. Swimming time in all doses of Arctii Fructus groups was longer than in M group (P<0.01)

and there were dose-response. But there were no differences between C and M groups. Serum testosterone in M group was lower than C group (P<0.01)

in the same time

serum testosterone was higher in all doses of Arctii Fructus groups than M group (P<0.01). The serum corticosterone levels in each group showed no significant differences. Changes in the ratio of serum testosterone/corticosterone were more consistent with testosterone changes among the groups. There were no differences in luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone between C group and M group. But luteinizing hormone in all doses of Arctii Fructus groupswas higher than in M group (P<0.05). In the mean time

follicle-stimulating hormone in all doses of Arctii Fructus groups was higher than in M group (P<0.05). There were no differences in both luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone between groups in all doses of Arctii Fructus groups and there were dose-response. Conclusion: The supplement of Arctii Fructus can alleviate the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis function disorder caused by exercise through multiple targets and multiple ways.Arctii Fructus can prevent the decrease of serum testosterone after high-intensity exercise and improve anti-fatigue ability.