The Effect of Chronic Prosopis glandulosa Treatment on Muscle Force Development and Fatigue Tolerance in Soleus Muscle

Background: Muscle fatigue, which is the diminished ability of muscles to generate force, has been found to play a major role in limiting performance during physical activity. For centuries herbal remedies have been used in the plight to ameliorate fatigue and increase muscle strength, however many lacking scientific evidence.

Aims: This study was aimed to investigate the effects of Prosopis glandulosa, on skeletal muscle fatigue and muscle strength development.

Methodology: Adult, male, Wistar rats received daily oral administration of Prosopis glandulosa (100 mg/kg/day for 10 weeks). After 10 weeks the soleus muscles were excised from anaesthetized rats, weighed, measured and mounted for isometric force determination. Muscles were vertically suspended between two electrodes in Krebs Henseleit buffer solution in a water-jacketed organ bath. Isometric twitch- and tetanic force production, contraction time, half-relaxation time, force-frequency relationship and rate of fatigue were measured in response to electric field stimulation.

Results: P. glandulosa treatment had no significant effect on muscle fatigue tolerance, as both treated and untreated groups fatigued at the same rate. However, muscles from treated rats generated significantly increased force when the muscle was stimulated at different frequencies to generate a single twitch and tetanus and throughout a 2 minute fatigue protocol.

Conclusion: The use of an economical, natural and readily available substance such as the one we identified here, as treatment to increase muscle force generation could have far-reaching implications in not only the sporting arena, but also the health sector.