Narirutin alleviates exercise-induced fatigue in mice largely by relying on an intact gut microbiota, although microbiota-independent peripheral effects cannot be fully excluded.
Narirutin dose-dependently improved exercise endurance, muscle strength, and glycogen storage in a forced exercise fatigue mouse model.
Narirutin improved oxidative status and inflammatory profiles in fatigued mice.
Narirutin restored gut microbial diversity, remodelled microbial composition, and altered metabolic signatures.
Multiomics integration indicated that narirutin regulated immune genes via a gut microbiota–metabolite–gene axis.
Fecal microbiota transplantation reproduced the antifatigue effects of narirutin.
Antibiotic-mediated microbiota depletion eliminated the protective effect of narirutin.
The antifatigue effect of narirutin depends largely on an intact gut microbiota, but microbiota-independent peripheral effects cannot be fully excluded.
This study in mice tested whether narirutin, a natural flavonoid, can reduce fatigue caused by forced exercise. Mice given narirutin showed better endurance and muscle strength, more stored glycogen (an energy reserve), and better markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, with larger doses giving larger benefits. The researchers also found that narirutin changed the gut microbiome, restoring microbial diversity and shifting the mix of bacteria and the chemicals they produce. Combined analyses suggested that these changes affect immune-related gene activity. When gut bacteria from narirutin-treated mice were transferred to other mice, the antifatigue benefit was reproduced. When gut bacteria were wiped out with antibiotics, narirutin no longer protected against fatigue. This research suggests that narirutin's anti-fatigue effects in mice depend largely on the gut microbiota, although effects outside the gut cannot be ruled out. The findings are from mice and do not show whether the same effects occur in people, but they support further study of narirutin as a natural functional food ingredient for fatigue.
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Upload Your LabsChu Z, Zhang X, Zhu B, Liu Q, Zeng Y, Zhou Y, et al.. (2026). Protective Effects of Narirutin Against Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Mice: Insights from Integrated Microbiome, Metabolome, and Transcriptome Analysis.. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6c11203