Investigation of anti-fatigue effect and simultaneous determination of eight nucleosides in different parts of velvet antler in red deer and sika deer.

Velvet antler (VA) is crucial and precious nourishment in China and some countries in Southeast Asia. It has several pharmacological effects such as alleviating fatigue and strengthening the body. The incidence of fatigue syndrome has increased gradually. Thus, VA can be a potential source of antifatigue products. The chemical composition and therapeutic effects of VA differ based on different regions such as upper, middle, and basal sections. Loading swimming test in mice was used to determine the antifatigue activity of different sections of VA from red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) and sika deer ( Cervus nippon ). Furthermore, nucleosides are a type of active components in VA that considerably reduced fatigue in mice. In order to investigate the relationship between antifatigue effect and the contents of nucleosides and to provide an effective method for evaluating the quality of VA from red and sika deer, the contents of eight nucleosides (uracil, cytidine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, thymine, inosine, guanosine, and adenosine) were determined simultaneously using high-performance liquid chromatography. The swimming time in mice was higher for the extracts from the upper region of VA compared to the basal region. We found that the contents of nucleosides in VA may affect its antifatigue effect. Furthermore, the contents of these nucleosides were used as a reference for evaluating the quality of different parts of VA obtained from red and sika deer.