Adaptogen

Panax quinquefolius or ginseng is often claimed to have adaptogenic effects.

Adaptogens or adaptogenic substances, compounds, herbs[1] or practices[2] refer to the pharmacological concept[3] whereby administration results in stabilization of physiological processes and promotion of homeostasis, for example, decreased cellular sensitivity to stress. The European Medicines Agency states in a 2008 reflection paper that the concept requires additional clinical and pre-clinical research, and is therefore not accepted into current terminology.[4]

Normal pharmacological theory supports the receptor theory of drug mechanism,[5][6] and the scientific community calls into question the validity of the concept of adaptogens, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency accept that the term can be used to assess traditional products.[4]

In herbal medicine the categorization of different herbs as adaptogens is very popular, often with far-reaching claims of increasing longevity, libido and well-being. Most of the studies conducted on adaptogens were performed in the Soviet Union, Korea, and China during the 1980's. While they may be suggestive, the studies are not considered conclusive, having been criticized for various methodological flaws.

Adaptogens have been claimed to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, from fatigue to cancer. Adaptogenic effect of some herbs may occur as a result of the herb containing substances that increase the body's own response to oxidative stress, such as the medicinal herb Gynostemma pentaphyllum, which when ingested is purported to increase the body's innate response by increased production of superoxide dismutase (SOD).[7]

History

The concept of adaptogens was originally created by pharmacologist N.V. Lazarev in 1947 to describe novel effects of dibazol 12-benzyl benzimidazol, an arterial dilator developed in France.[3] Adaptogenesis was later applied in the former Soviet Union to describe remedies that increase the resistance of organisms to biological stress in experimental and clinical studies.[3] According to the original definition, adaptogens are:

non-specific remedies "that increase resistance to a broad spectrum of harmful factors (stressors) of different physical, chemical and biological natures".[8]

This definition has been updated and today adaptogens are conceptualized as a:

"new class of metabolic regulators (of a natural origin) which increase the ability of an organism to adapt to environmental factors and to avoid damage from such factors."[8]

Another definition requires that, for an herb to be considered an adaptogen, it must be nontoxic, nonspecific and have a normalizing effect on physiology.[9]

By 1984, more than 1,500 pharmacological and clinical published studies had been conducted on adaptogens in the USSR,[8] Adaptogens have even been described as "medicine[sic] for healthy people".[10] In 1998, the term "adaptogen" was allowed as a functional claim for certain products by U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency claims, "The concept of adaptogens is sufficient to be considered in the assessment of traditional herbal medicinal products (e.g., monograph on Eleutherococcus root[4])."

Adaptogenic plants

There is dispute in the herbal community regarding whether certain plants qualify as adaptogens. However, certain plants are generally believed to qualify:

Adaptogens in other cultures

The concept of adaptogens as "medicine for the healthy"[10] or as a substance that helps the body cope with stress[8] is a similar to many remedies common in chinese herbology, as well as other forms of traditional medicine.

Ayurveda traditional medicine operates with the concept of rasayana. Various substances are classified in this tradition as rasayanas, meaning they are believed to promote physical and mental health, improve defense mechanisms of the body and enhance longevity. Rasayanas are referred to as adaptogens by some researchers.[15] [16]

Pharmacodynamics

The mechanism of action of adaptogens is not entirely clear. In 1965, it was demonstrated that the adaptogenic effect was dependent on cellular transcription.[3][8] Later, it was suggested that the action of adaptogens was at least in part a function of effects on the sympathetic nervous system.

Another set of more recent of pharmacological studies have provided a mechanism for the effects at the molecular level. The stress-protective activity of adaptogens has been found to be associated with activation of molecular chaperonin Hsp70,[17][18][19][20][21] and other key mediators of the stress response such as cortisol, nitric oxide, stress-activated protein kinase JNK[22] and DAF-16.[23] Studies have demonstrated that heat-shock factor 1 (HSF1) and Neuropeptide Y might be primary upstream molecular targets of adaptogens in neuroglia cells, but the results were only suggestive, not conclusive.[20][21] One recent analysis revealed that a claimed adaptogen extract, ADAPT-232, and some of its components individually, regulated the transcription of genes involved in cellular signaling pathways, most notably those of G protein-coupled receptors.[24]

Adaptogens vs. stimulants

In spite of their theoretical normalizing effect, certain dosing regimens of adaptogenic plant extracts are claimed to have stimulating effects on the central nervous system. Plant adaptogens are said to stimulate the nervous system by mechanisms that are totally different from those of conventional stimulants as associated with metabolic regulation of various elements of the stress system.[21][22] Adaptogens are also claimed to be efficacious in the treatment of anxiety disorders.[25]

References

  1. ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adaptogen
  2. ↑ Smirnova, AV; Naumcheva, NN (2008). "[Solar activity and cardiovascular diseases].". Klinicheskaia meditsina 86 (1): 10–7. PMID 18326276.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brekhman, I. I.; Dardymov, I. V. (1969). "New Substances of Plant Origin which Increase Nonspecific Resistance". Annual Review of Pharmacology 9: 419–430. doi:10.1146/annurev.pa.09.040169.002223. PMID 4892434.
  4. 1 2 3 EMEA/HMPC/102655/2007. Reflection Paper on the Adaptogenic Concept. European Medicines Agency, London, 8 May 2008.
  5. ↑ Kenakin T (2008). "What systems can and can't do". Br. J. Pharmacol. 153 (5): 841–3. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707677. PMC 2267279. PMID 18204481.
  6. ↑ Kenakin T (2004). "Principles: Receptor theory in pharmacology". Trends Pharmacol Sci 25 (4).
  7. ↑ Liu et al. (1992). "Therapeutic effect of jiaogulan on leukopenia due to irradiation and chemotherapy". Zhong Guo yi Yao Xue Bao 7 (2): 99.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Panossian, A.; Wikman, G.; Wagner, H. (October 1999). "Plant adaptogens. III. Earlier and more recent aspects and concepts on their mode of action" (PDF). Phytomedicine 6 (4): 287–300. doi:10.1016/S0944-7113(99)80023-3. PMID 10589450.
  9. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=5NbXBhyQGUkC&lpg=PP1&dq=inauthor%3A%22Steven%20Maimes%22&pg=PA3#v=twopage&q=adaptogen&f=false
  10. 1 2 Lesser, Frank (18 September 1980). "Letters: Eleutherococcus". New Scientist 87 (1219): 885. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Soviet authors in this field ... lay emphasis not on the treatment of disease, but on the use of eleutherococcus and ginseng among others 'as medicines for healthy people', as Professor Brekhman said in a lecture at Chelsea College last year.
  11. ↑ http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/ginseng-american
  12. ↑ http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/ashwagandha
  13. ↑ http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/panax-ginseng
  14. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=5NbXBhyQGUkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Steven+Maimes%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJ6uD8tu7KAhVG-2MKHcWFCzEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  15. ↑ Bhattacharya, S. K.; Bhattacharya, A; Chakrabarti, A (2000). "Adaptogenic activity of Siotone, a polyherbal formulation of Ayurvedic rasayanas". Indian journal of experimental biology 38 (2): 119–28. PMID 11218827.
  16. ↑ Rege, N. N.; Thatte, U. M.; Dahanukar, S. A. (1999). "Adaptogenic properties of six rasayana herbs used in Ayurvedic medicine". Phytotherapy Research 13 (4): 275–91. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1573(199906)13:4<275::AID-PTR510>3.0.CO;2-S. PMID 10404532.
  17. ↑ Panossian, A.; Wikman, G. (September 2009). "Evidence-based efficacy of adaptogens in fatigue, and molecular mechanisms related to their stress-protective activity" (PDF). Current Clinical Pharmacology 4 (3): 198–219. doi:10.2174/157488409789375311. PMID 19500070.
  18. ↑ Panossian, A.; Wikman, G.; Kaur, P.; Asea, A. (June 2009). "Adaptogens exert a stress-protective effect by modulation of expression of molecular chaperones". Phytomedicine 16 (6–7): 617–622. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2008.12.003. PMID 19188053.
  19. ↑ Panossian, A.; Wikman, G.; Kaur, P.; Asea, A. (2010). "Molecular Chaperones as Mediators of Stress Protective Effect of Plant Adaptogens". Heat Shock Proteins and Whole Body Physiology. Heat Shock Proteins 5. Springer. pp. 351–364. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3381-9_20. ISBN 978-90-481-3380-2.
  20. 1 2 Panossian, A; Wikman, G; Kaur, P; Asea, A. (2011). "Adaptogens (ADAPT-232) stimulate neuropeptide Y expression in neuroglia cells. 59th International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research, 4th-9th September 2011, Anatalya, Turkey". Planta Medica 77 (12): 1248. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1282146.
  21. 1 2 3 Panossian, Alexander G.; Wikman, Georg; Kaur, Punit; Asea, Alexzander (2012). "Adaptogens Stimulate Neuropeptide Y and Hsp72 Expression and Release in Neuroglia Cells". Frontiers in Neuroscience 6: 6. doi:10.3389/fnins.2012.00006. PMC 3269752. PMID 22347152.
  22. 1 2 Panossian, A., Hambartsumyan, M., Hovanissian, A., Gabrielyan, E., and Wilkman, G. (2007). The Adaptogens Rhodiola and Schizandra Modify the Response to Immobilization Stress in Rabbits by Suppressing the Increase of Phosphorylated Stress-activated Protein Kinase, Nitric Oxide and Cortisol. Drug Targets Instights 1, 39-54.
  23. ↑ Wiegant, F. A. C.; Surinova, S.; Ytsma, E.; Langelaar-Makkinje, M.; Wikman, G.; Post, J. A. (February 2008). "Plant adaptogens increase lifespan and stress resistance in C. Elegans" (PDF). Biogerontology 10 (1): 27–42. doi:10.1007/s10522-008-9151-9. PMID 18536978.
  24. ↑ Panossian, Alexander G.; Hamm, Rebecca; Kadioglu, Onat; Wikman, Georg; Efferth, Thomas (2013). "A1. Synergy and antagonism of active constituents of ADAPT-232 on transcriptional level of metabolic regulation of isolated neuroglial cells.". Frontiers in Neuroscience 7: 16. doi:10.3389/fnins.2013.00016. PMID 23430930.
  25. ↑ A. Panossian and G. Wikman (2005), "Effect of adaptogens on the central nervous system", Arquivos Brasileiros de Fitomedicina Científica 3: 29-51)
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