Plant adaptogens

Abstract

The term adaptogen has not yet been accepted in medicine. This is probably due to the difficulties in discriminating adaptogenic drugs from immunostimulators, anabolic drugs, nootropic drugs, and tonics. There can be not doubt, however, that, at least in animal experiments, there are plant drugs capable of modulating distinct phases of the adaptation syndrome as defined by Seyle. These drugs either reduce stress reactions in the alarm phase or retard / prevent the exhaustion phase and thus provide a certain degree of protection against long-term stress. The small number of drugs the antistress activity of which has been proven or reported includes, among others, the plant drugs Ginseng, Eleutherococcus, Withania, Ocimum, Rhodiola, and Codonopsis. This review summarizes the major findings of pharmacological tests and human studies carried out with these drugs. Currently used assay systems allowing detection of antistress activities are also reported. At present the most likely candidates responsible for the putative antistress activity of plant drugs are special steroids, phenylprogane compounds and lignanes, respectively. Apart from influencing activities of the pituitary-adrenal axis and inducing stress proteins, many adaptogens also possess immunomodulatory and / or anabolic activities.

Adaptogenic and central nervous system effects of single doses of 3% rosavin and 1% salidroside Rhodiola rosea L. extract in mice

“…The ability of adaptogens to increase work capacity and physical performance has often been assessed using the swimming test in rodents, under different experimental conditions. Indeed, both adaptogens and antidepressants can increase the amount of time that an animal is able to keep swimming actively (Brekhman and Dardymov, 1968;Espinola et al, 1977;Banerjee and Izquierdo, 1982;Singh et al, 1988;Wagner et al, 1994;Dhuley, 2000;Abidov et al, 2003).…”

“…rosea is used in traditional folk medicine to stimulate the nervous system, to decrease depression, to enhance work performance, longevity and resistance to high altitude sickness, and to treat fatigue and symptoms of asthenia subsequent to intense physical and psychological stress (Kelly, 2001;Brown et al, 2002;Zhu et al, 2003). Therefore, due to its ability to increase the resistance of an organism to environmental stress factors and to avoid damage from such factors, R. rosea has been defined as an 'adaptogen' (Wagner et al, 1994;Panossian et al, 1999;Panossian, 2003;Panossian and Wagner, 2005).…”

Protective effect of Habenaria intermedia tubers against acute and chronic physical and psychological stress paradigms in rats

“…Immobilization has been the ideal choice for the induction of stress responses in animals and more specifically, for the investigation of drug effects, on typical stress-related gastrointestinal, neuroendocrine, and immunological pathology. Immobilization model used in our study found to cause long term desensitization of HPA response which affected both peripheral and central components of the HPA axis (Wagner., 1994). The distinct advantage of using immobilization as a stressor lies in the fact that it produces both physical as well as inescapable psychological stress (Krupavaram et al, 2007).…”

Acanthopanax trifoliatus, a Potential Adaptogenic Thai Vegetable for Health Supplement

“…Extracts from the leaves of this plant could also exhibit in vivo adaptogenic related biological effects including anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety activities. Polyphenolics and flavonoid, phytochemicals that play important role in antioxidation, anti-inflammatory and adaptogenic actions in plants (Hoorn, 2003, Panossian and Wagner, 2005, Wagner et al, 1994 were found to available in high amount in A. trifoliatus, especially in the leaves and the roots. Active polyphenolics and flavonoid compounds were structurally identified.…”

“…Some in vitro studies were also conducted such as antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effect experiments. Adaptogenic plants can promote anti-stress effects via several mechanisms including increasing of body temperature, improvements of body function, enhancing of cognitive abilities, promoting of locomotor and exploration activities, and moderating the emotional behavior (Wagner et al, 1994). Fig.…”