The maximal oxygen uptake protocol was used in accordance with previous studies [16, 17]. Briefly, the initial slope and speed were set at 0° and 14 m/min, respectively, and were then increased by 2° and 2 m/min, respectively, every 2 min; the mice were measured in the same environment both before and after training. After 2 weeks of training, the energy metabolism during exercise was measured at the same training intensity as during the second week (25 m/min, slope of 8°, 75% of maximum ) for 1 h. The mice were selleck chemical placed in exercise metabolism chambers for adaptation at 2 h before the measurement [16]. Gas selleck chemicals analysis Respiratory gas was measured with an open-circuit apparatus in

accordance with previous studies [15, 16, 18]. The O2 uptake and CO2 production were measured with a mass analyzer (gas analyzer model RL-600; Alco System, Chiba, Japan) and a switching system (model ANI6-A-S; Alco System). The flow rate was maintained at 3 L/min. The

O2 uptake and CO2 production were used to calculate the RER, carbohydrate oxidation, and fat oxidation in the mice. Glycogen analysis Glycogen contents in the muscles and liver were measured in a perchloric acid extract according to the amyloglucosidase method [19]. Blood MK-1775 purchase analysis Blood samples were collected rest, immediately after exercise and 1 h post-exercise. Plasma glucose was measured using commercial kits (Asan Pharmaceutical Co., Hwaseong-si Gyeonggi-do, Korea), the plasma FFA level using a non-esterified

fatty acid kit (Wako Pure Chemical Industries), and the plasma insulin level Sinomenine was determined with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit (Morinaga Bioscience Laboratory, Yokohama, Japan). Statistical analysis All data are presented as means ± standard deviations (SD). All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS version 19.0 software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Differences between the groups were analyzed with an unpaired t-test. The one-way analysis of variance was used to determine the changes in max before and after training, blood analysis and the changes in glycogen contents during and at 1 h after exercise in the CON and SP groups. A Bonferroni post-hoc analysis was conducted if significance was obtained. The changes in fat oxidation on energy metabolism during exercise were analyzed with a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05. Results Body weights, food consumption, and adipose tissue weights in the CON and SP groups The body weights, food consumption, and adipose tissue weights are shown in Table 2. The final body weights and body weight gains were significantly lower in the SP group than in the CON group. The food consumption was significantly higher in the SP group than in the CON group. The total weights of the abdominal adipose tissue and epididymal tissue were significantly lower in the SP group than in the CON group.