Improved cognitive performance after dietary supplementation with a Pinus radiata bark extract Formulation

Abstract

Dietary interventions may have the potential to counter age-related cognitive decline. Studies have demonstrated an improvement in age-related cognitive impairment in animals after supplementation with plant extracts containing flavonoids but there are few human studies. This double-blind, controlled study examined the effects on cognitive performance of a 5 week supplementation with Enzogenol Pinus radiata bark extract containing flavonoids, in 42 males aged 50-65 years, with a body mass index >25. Participants were supplemented for 5 weeks either with Enzogenol plus vitamin C, or with vitamin C only. A battery of computerized cognitive tests was administered, and cardiovascular and haematological parameters were assessed prior to and following supplementation. The speed of response for the spatial working memory and immediate recognition tasks improved after supplementation with Enzogenol plus vitamin C, whereas vitamin C alone showed no improvements. A trend in a reduction of systolic blood pressure was observed with Enzogenol plus vitamin C, but not with vitamin C alone. The blood safety parameters were unchanged. The findings suggest a beneficial effect of supplementation with Enzogenol on cognition in older individuals. Larger studies are needed to ascertain its potential as a preventive treatment for age-related cognitive decline.

Memory improvements in elderly women following 16 weeks treatment with a combined multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement

“…The most robust cognitive benefits were specific to the domain of working memory, providing support to the predictions of other researchers that measures of fluid intelligence may be responsive to treatment with vitamin formulations due to the role of these nutrients in the maintenance of CNS function and production of neurotransmitters relevant to memory function (Cockle et al 2000;Bryan et al 2002;Haskell et al 2008). Working memory represents an important component of fluid intelligence and growing evidence indicates that working memory may represent a cognitive domain which benefits preferentially from nutraceutical intervention (Pipingas et al 2008;Ryan et al 2008;MacReady et al 2011). Performance on the same spatial working memory task included in the current study has demonstrated improvements following 5 weeks supplementation with a flavonoid blend (Pipingas et al 2008), indicating that this measure is sensitive to both multivitamin and flavonoid intervention.…”

“…Working memory represents an important component of fluid intelligence and growing evidence indicates that working memory may represent a cognitive domain which benefits preferentially from nutraceutical intervention (Pipingas et al 2008;Ryan et al 2008;MacReady et al 2011). Performance on the same spatial working memory task included in the current study has demonstrated improvements following 5 weeks supplementation with a flavonoid blend (Pipingas et al 2008), indicating that this measure is sensitive to both multivitamin and flavonoid intervention.…”

“…Instead the sample size calculation was based on the findings of a previous trial which identified cognitive improvements with a moderate effect size, in 42 males on the same battery of cognitive tasks, following 5 weeks' supplementation with a nutraceutical formula (Pipingas et al 2008). In the current study the sample size was increased to 60 participants to increase the power of the study.…”

“…Recent evidence indicates that in the elderly, the cognitive processes most susceptible to cognitive deterioration, in turn, demonstrate the greatest improvements from nutraceutical intervention (Pipingas et al 2008;Ryan et al 2008). Cognitive domains prone to age-related deterioration include working memory, episodic memory and attention (Ronnlund et al 2005).…”

Pine Bark Extracts: Nutraceutical, Pharmacological, and Toxicological Evaluation

“…Enzogenol displays a positive influence on cognitive performance, specifically on working memory, a type of short-term memory. In combination with vitamin C, Enzogenol improved the response speed of spatial working memory and immediate recognition tasks (Pipingas et al, 2008). In patients with 3-12 months post-mild traumatic brain injury, self-perceived cognitive failures were reduced (Theadom et al, 2013).…”