Table 2. Altered plasma metabolites in the control, exhaustive exercise and recovery groups for male and female rats (n=10). Compounds RT (min) VIP S-d10/Control R-d7/Control R-d7/S-d10 FC (Male) p FC (Female) p FC (Male) p FC (Female) p FC (Male) p FC (Female) p Amino acid Valine 7.68 1.43 1.88 0.016 2.62 <0.001 2.00 0.008 0.35 <0.001 0.52 0.013 Serine 8.25 1.29 0.51 0.010 0.58 0.034 1.73 0.035 Leucine 8.48 1.67 2.09 0.005 2.82 <0.001 2.75 <0.001 0.35 <0.001 0.57 0.028 Methionine 12.88 1.45 2.75 <0.001 1.69 0.041 0.58 0.034 5-oxo-proline 12.93 1.71 2.82 <0.001 2.82 <0.001 0.58 0.034 Glutamic acid 15.05 1.25 0.41 <0.001 2.56 <0.001 0.48 0.005 2.62 <0.001 Ornithine 19.65 1.34 2.82 <0.001 2.44 <0.001 Organic acid Lactic acid 5.56 1.68 0.35 <0.001 0.35 <0.001 3-Hydroxybutyric acid 6.88 1.96 2.82 <0.001 2.62 <0.001 2.82 <0.001 0.45 0.002 0.41 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 Fumaric acid 9.55 1.16 2.18 0.003 2.56 <0.001 Butanedioic acid 12.37 1.26 2.50 <0.001 0.47 0.003 Citric acid 19.91 1.81 2.82 <0.001 2.56 <0.001 0.52 0.011 Fatty acid Linoleic acid 27.65 1.39 2.23 0.002 2.23 0.002 0.56 0.023 0.40 <0.001 Oleic acid 27.73 1.47 2.62 <0.001 2.23 0.002 2.23 0.002 0.44 0.002 Arachidonic acid 29.54 1.08 1.84 0.019 0.50 0.008 Carbohydrate D-(+)-Glucose 22.12 1.11 0.52 0.013 Other metabolites Urea 8.16 1.40 2.39 0.001 Phosphate 8.65 1.18 2.28 0.002 2.00 0.008 2.04 <0.001 0.35 Myo-inostiol 26.17 1.31 1.80 0.023 2.18 0.003 RT: The retention time of each compound from GC-MS; VIP: Variable importance in the project; FC: Fold Change. Mean ranks were calculated using the nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitey test by SPSS 18.0, and FC was obtained by comparing those metabolites’ mean ranks among the three groups (exhaustive exercise group vs control group, recovery group vs exhaustive exercise group, and recovery group vs control group) in male and female rats. FC with a value >1 indicates a relatively higher level present in exhaustive exercise or recovery group as compared to the control group, while a value <1 means a relatively lower level in exhaustive exercise or recovery group as compared to the control group. S-d10: 10 days swimming group (exhaustive exercise group); R-d7: 7 days recovery group; p: Correlation coefficient from Mann-Whitney test. p<0.05 means the change is significant.