Suma-Bolic™

1. Brazilian plants as possible adaptogens: An ethnopharmacological survey of books edited in Brazil.
Mendes FR, Carlini EA.
Cebrid, Department of Psychobiology at UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Feb 12;109(3):493-500. Epub 2006 Sep 1. Links
In a survey, from Brazilian books, we searched plants that are in popular use for purposes resembling those of an adaptogen. This study focused on 24 books by authors from diverse regions in the country, resulting in a total of 1317 citations of uses related to a possible adaptogen effect from approximately 766 plants. Only species native to Brazil, cited in at least four books, were selected, resulting a total of 33 species, belonging to 24 families. Of these, four species have been studied previously in relation to effects that are considered as part of an adaptogen effect (anti-stress, memory enhancement, increased physical and/or sexual performance): Heteropterys aphrodisiaca (Malpighiaceae), Paullinia cupana (Sapindaceae), Ptychopetalum olacoides (Olacaceae), and Turnera diffusa (Turneraceae). Three others -Pfaffia glomerata, Pfaffia paniculata (Amaranthaceae), and Trichilia catigua (Meliaceae) - have also been the object of pharmacological studies that support their use as a possible adaptogen, but they are listed in less than four books. The overall results obtained in the present review of Brazilian folk literature reveals that Brazil is rich in plants with potential adaptogen-like effect, but lacks pharmacological studies (mostly clinical ones) to confirm these therapeutic properties.
PMID: 17030478 [PubMed - in process]

2. Pfaffia paniculata-induced changes in plasma estradiol-17beta, progesterone and testosterone
levels in mice.
Oshima M, Gu Y.
Graduate School of Medical Imaging, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka-cho, Suzuka-shi, Mie
510-0293, Japan. J Reprod Dev. 2003 Apr;49(2):175-80. Links
The present study undertook chemical analysis of components of Pfaffia paniculata roots. In addition, an animal experiment was conducted in which mice had ad libitum access to water enriched with powdered P. paniculata root for 30 days. Changes in plasma concentrations of estradiol-17beta and progesterone in female mice and of testosterone in male mice were ascertained. The results revealed that P. paniculata roots contain two types of phytosteroids, beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol, in addition to other compounds such as pfaffic acid, allantoin, saponins, beta-sitosteryl-beta-D-glucoside, and stigmasteryl-beta-D-glucoside. Regarding changes in plasma concentrations of hormones, levels of the sex hormones estradiol-17beta, progesterone and testosterone were clearly higher for mice that drank P. paniculata root-enriched water than for mice that drank plain water. Powdered P. paniculata root is easily dissolved in feed or water, and as no adverse reactions were seen in mice within 30 days of oral intake, consumption of P. paniculata for long periods of time appears safe.
PMID: 14967943 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

3. Stimulating property of Turnera diffusa and Pfaffia paniculata extracts on the sexual-behavior
of male rats.
Arletti R, Benelli A, Cavazzuti E, Scarpetta G, Bertolini A.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
farmacol@unimo.it Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1999 Mar;143(1):15-9.
Sexually potent and sexually sluggish/impotent male rats were treated orally with different amounts of Turnera diffusa and Pfaffia paniculata fluid extracts (0.25, 0.50, 1.0 ml/kg). While having no effect on the copulatory behavior of sexually potent rats, both plant extracts--singly or in combination--improved the copulatory performance of sexually sluggish/impotent rats. The highest dose of either extract (1 ml/kg) (as well as the combination of 0.5 ml/kg of each extract) increased the percentage of rats achieving ejaculation and significantly reduced mount, intromission and ejaculation latencies, post-ejaculatory interval and intercopulatory interval. Neither extract affected locomotor activity. These results seem to support the folk reputation of Turnera diffusa and Pfaffia paniculata as sexual stimulants.
PMID: 10227074 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

4. Effects of various Eleutherococcus senticosus cortex on swimming time, natural killer activity and corticosterone level in forced swimming stressed mice.
Kimura Y, Sumiyoshi M.
Second Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Ehime University. Shigenobu-cho, Onsen-gun, Ehime 719-0295, Japan. yokim@m.ehine.u.ac.jp. J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Dec;95(2-3):447-53.
The cortex of Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. has been used extensively in Russia, China, Korea and Japan as an adaptogen whose properties are the ability to increase as non-specific body resistance to stress and fatigue. Although it has been reported that Eleutherococcus senticosus has anti-fatigue and anti-stress actions, their actions are still unclear on the relationship between immune system, especially natural killer (NK) activity and endocrine system (corticosterone level). We compared the effects of the water extracts (A, B, C, D and E) of five Eleutherococcus senticosus cortex on the swimming time, NK activity and blood corticosterone level using forced swimming stressed mice. Among five kinds, C, D and E extracts significantly prolonged the swimming time. C and D extracts inhibited the reduction of NK activity and the corticosterone elevation induced by forced swimming. The contents of eleutheroside E, isoflaxidin and eleutherosides B plus E were in the order C > D > E > B > A and C > E > D > A > B extracts, respectively. Therefore, it is suggested that eleutheroside E may be contributed to the anti-fatigue action, the recovery of the reduction of NK activity and the inhibition of corticosterone elevation induced by swimming stress.
PMID: 15507373 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

5. Stimulating effect of adaptogens: an overview with particular reference to their efficacy following single dose administration.
Panossian A, Wagner H.
Swedish Herbal Institute, Viktor Rydbergsgatan 10, SE-411 32 Gothenburg, Sweden. ap@shi.se Phytother Res. 2005
Oct;19(10):819-38.
Plant adaptogens are compounds that increase the ability of an organism to adapt to environmental factors and to avoid damage from such factors. The beneficial effects of multi-dose administration of adaptogens are mainly associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a part of the stress-system that is believed to play a primary role in the reactions of the body to repeated stress and adaptation. In contrast, the single dose application of adaptogens is important in situations that require a rapid response to tension or to a stressful situation. In this case, the effects of the adaptogens are associated with another part of the stress-system, namely, the sympatho-adrenal-system (SAS), that provides a rapid response mechanism mainly to control the acute reaction of the organism to a stressor. This review focuses primarily on the SAS-mediated stimulating effects of single doses of adaptogens derived from Rhodiola rosea, Schizandra chinensis and Eleutherococcus senticosus. The use of these drugs typically generates no side effects, unlike traditional stimulants that possess addiction, tolerance and abuse potential, produce a negative effect on sleep structure, and cause rebound hypersomnolence or ‘come down’ effects. Furthermore, single administration of these adaptogens effectively increases mental performance and physical working capacity in humans. R. rosea is the most active of the three plant adaptogens producing, within 30 min of administration, a stimulating effect that continues for at least 4-6 h. The active principles of the three plants that exhibit single dose stimulating effects are glycosides of phenylpropane- and phenylethane-based phenolic compounds such as salidroside, rosavin, syringin and triandrin, the latter being the most active. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PMID: 16261511 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

6. Assessment of the effects of eleutherococcus senticosus on endurance performance.
Goulet ED, Dionne IJ.
Dept of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Research Center on Aging, Geriatric Institute of the University of Sherbrooke, PQ, Canada, J1H 4C4. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2005 Feb;15(1):75-83.
The use of nutritional ergogenic aids containing Eleutherococcus senticosus (ES), a plant which is also known as ciwujia or Siberian ginseng, is relatively common among endurance athletes. Eleutherococcus senticosus has been suggested to improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) and fat metabolism (FAM) and, therefore, endurance performance (EP). This article reviews the studies that evaluated the effects of ES during endurance exercise, three of which suggest that ES substantially improves CF, FAM, and EP. However, each of these reports contains severe methodological flaws, which seriously threaten their internal validity, thereby rendering hazardous the generalization of the results. On the other hand, 5 studies that used rigorous research protocols show no benefit of ES on CF, FAM, and EP. It is therefore concluded that ES supplementation (up to 1000 to 1200 mg/d for 1 to 6 wk) offers no advantage during exercise ranging in duration from 6 to 120 min.
PMID: 15902991 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7. Effects of Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus maxim.) on elderly quality of life: a
randomized clinical trial.
Cicero AF, Derosa G, Brillante R, Bernardi R, Nascetti S, Gaddi A.
Atherosclerosis and Dysmetabolic Diseases Study Center G. Descovich, Clinical Medicine and Applied Biotechnology Department D. Campanacci, University of Bologna, I-40138 Bologna, Italy. afgcicero@tiscali.it Arch Gerontol Geriatr Suppl. 2004;(9):69-73.
An unspecific feeling of fatigue and asthenia often pushes elderly patients to require any form of help even from non medically trained people. Traditional Chinese medicine suggest that Siberian ginseng could act as safe “adaptogenic” substance. Our aim was thus to test the effect of a middle term Eleutherococcus senticosus Maxim. (Araliaceae) administration on elderly, health related quality of life (HRQOL). 20 elderly hypertensive and digitalized volunteers (age >/= 65 years) were randomized in a double -blind manner to E. senticosus dry extract 300 mg/day (n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) for 8 weeks. The short form-36 health survey version 2 (SF-36v2), a validated general health status questionnaire, was used to access HRQOL at baseline and at 4 and 8 weeks. There were no significant differences in baseline demographics and SF-36v2 scores between the groups. At each visit, controls of digitalemia and blood pressure level were carried out. After 4 weeks of therapy, higher scores in social functioning (p = 0.02) scales were observed in patients randomized to E. senticosus; these differences did not persist to the 8-week time point. No adverse event has been observed in both groups of patients. No significant difference in both blood pressure control and digitalemia was observed in both treatment groups. Subjects give E. senticosus (70%) were more likely to state that they received active therapy than subjects given placebo (20%; p < 0.05). In conclusion, E. senticosus safely improves some aspects of mental health and social functioning after 4 weeks of therapy, although these differences attenuate with continued use.
PMID: 15207399 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

8. Xyloglucan from the leaves of Hymenaea courbaril.
Busato AP, Vargas-Rechia CG, Reicher F.
Departmento de Bioquimica, Universidade Federal do Parana, CP 19046, 81531-990, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
A fucosylated xyloglucan was isolated from the leaves of Hymenaea courbaril by alkaline extraction, followed by ethanol precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The isolated polysaccharide showed Glc:Xyl:Gal:Fuc in molar ratio of 8:5:2.5:1 and (D)(25) +40.5 degrees. Composition and linkage analyses, supported by NMR spectroscopic measurements, showed that the polysaccharide has a glucan backbone which is highly substituted at O-6 with D-xylopyranose residues, about a half of which are substituted at O-2 by D-galactopyranosyl units. Some of the galactose residues are further substituted by L-fucopyranose at O-2. The M(r), as determined by HPSEC, was 49,500.
PMID: 11557087 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

9. Purification of a beta-galactosidase from cotyledons of Hymenaea courbaril L. (Leguminosae).
Enzyme properties and biological function.
de Alcantara PH, Martim L, Silva CO, Dietrich SM, Buckeridge MS.
Department of Botany, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Rua do Matao, 277, Caixa Postal 11461,
CEP 05422-970 Cidade Universitaria, Butanta, SP, Brazil.
Beta-galactosidases are enzymes that can be found in most living beings and in the plant kingdom its activity and genes have been detected in several tissues such as ripening fruits, developing leaves and flowers and storage tissues such as cotyledons. In plants, their activities are usually associated with the secondary metabolism or with oligosaccharide or polysaccharide degradation. Polysaccharide specific beta-galactosidases include beta-galactanases, which attack pectic polymers and beta-galactosidases that attack xyloglucans (XG). In the present work we purified an XG-specific beta-galactosidase (named hcbetagal) from cotyledons of developing seedlings of Hymenaea courbaril, a legume tree from the Neotropical region of the world. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 52-62 kDa and was shown to attack specifically xyloglucan oligosaccharides (XGOs) but not the polymer. It has a pH optimum between 3 and 4 and at this pH range the enzyme increases activity linearly up to 50 degrees C. Kinetic studies showed that hcbetagal is inhibited competitively by free galactose (K(i) = 3.7). The biochemical properties of hcbetagal as a whole suggest that it is involved in storage xyloglucan mobilisation during seedling development. Its high specificity towards XGOs, the low pH optimum and the fact that it is inhibited by its product (galactose) suggest that hcbetagal might be one of the biochemical control points in xyloglucan catabolism in vivo. A possible relationship with functional stability of the wall during cell death as cotyledons undergo senescence is discussed.
PMID: 17137787 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

10. Licorice flavonoids suppress abdominal fat accumulation and increase in blood glucose level in obese diabetic KK-A(y) mice.
Nakagawa K, Kishida H, Arai N, Nishiyama T, Mae T.
Functional Foods Development Division, Kaneka Corporation, Osaka, Japan.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2004 Nov;27(11):1775-8.
Licorice, the root of the Glycyrrhiza species, is one of the most frequently employed botanicals in traditional medicines. In this study, we investigated the effects of hydrophobic flavonoids from Glycyrrhiza glabra LINNE on abdominal fat accumulation and blood glucose level in obese diabetic KK-A(y) mice. In order to enrich a fraction of hydrophobic flavonoids, licorice flavonoid oil (LFO) was prepared by further extracting licorice ethanolic extract with medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), and adjusting the concentration of glabridin, the major flavonoid of licorice, to 1.2% in oil. KK-A(y) mice aged 6 weeks were assigned to 5 groups (n=6 each), and fed a high-fat diet containing 0 (control), 0.5%, 1%, or 2% LFO, or 0.5% conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) for 4 weeks. Compared with the control, body weight gain and weights of abdominal adipose tissues were suppressed (p<0.05) by feeding the diet containing 2% LFO, and blood glucose levels after 2 and 4 weeks were suppressed by all of the diets containing LFO. Although CLA feeding suppressed (p<0.05) body weight gain, it increased (p<0.05) blood glucose level after 2 weeks compared with the control level. Furthermore, LFO and licorice ethanolic extract stimulated human adipocyte differentiation in vitro. These results indicate that licorice hydrophobic flavonoids have abdominal fat-lowering and hypoglycemic effects, possibly mediated via activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma).
PMID: 15516721 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

11. Antidepressant-like activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. in mouse models of immobility tests.
Dhingra D, Sharma A.
Pharmacology Division, Department Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar-125001 (Haryana), India. din_dhingra@rediffmail.com Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry.
2006 May;30(3):449-54. Epub 2006 Jan 27.
The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of aqueous extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Family: Fabaceae), popularly known as liquorice, on depression in mice using forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). The extract of G. glabra (75, 150, and 300 mg/kg) was administered orally for 7 successive days in separate groups of Swiss young male albino mice. The dose of 150 mg/kg of the extract significantly reduced the immobility times of mice in both FST and TST, without any significant effect on locomotor activity of mice. The efficacy of extract was found to be comparable to that of imipramine (15 mg/kg i.p.) and fluoxetine (20 mg/kg i.p.). Liquorice extract reversed reserpine-induced extension of immobility period of mice in FST and TST. Sulpiride (50 mg/kg i.p.; a selective D2 receptor antagonist) and prazosin (62.5 microg/kg i.p.; an alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist) significantly attenuated the extract-induced antidepressant-like effect in TST. On the other hand, p-chlorophenylalanine (100 mg/kg i.p.; an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis) did not reverse antidepressant-like effect of liquorice extract. This suggests that antidepressant-like effect of liquorice extract seems to be mediated by increase of brain norepinephrine and dopamine, but not by increase of serotonin. Monoamine oxidase inhibiting effect of liquorice may be contributing favorably to the antidepressant-like activity. Thus, it is concluded that liquorice extract may possess an antidepressant-like effect.
PMID: 16443316 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

12. Effect of licorice root on peripheral blood indexes upon vibration exposure.
Adamyan TI, Gevorkyan ES, Minasyan SM, Oganesyan KR, Kirakosyan KA.
Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Erevan State University, Erevan. anatom@ysu.am
Bull Exp Biol Med. 2005 Aug;140(2):197-200.
We studied the effect of continuous vibration and treatment with licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) on peripheral blood red cells in rabbits. Active substances of licorice root accelerated metabolism in cells of the bone marrow erythroid stem, enhanced compensatory reserve of the organism, and increased animal’s resistance to stress.
PMID: 16283000 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

13. Pharmacological actions of Cordyceps, a prized folk medicine.
Ng TB, Wang HX.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong
Kong, China. b021770@mailserv.cuhk.edu.hk
Cordyceps species, including C. sinensis, C. militaris, C. pruinosa and C. ophioglossoides, are prized traditional medicinal materials. The aim of this article is to review the chemical constituents and pharmacological actions of Cordyceps species. The chemical constituents include cordycepin (3’-de-oxyadenosine) and its derivatives, ergosterol, polysaccharides, a glycoprotein and peptides containing alpha-aminoisobutyric acid. They include anti-tumour, anti-metastatic, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal, antimicrobial, hypolipidaemic, hypoglycaemic, anti-ageing, neuroprotective and renoprotective effects. Polysaccharide accounts for the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-metastatic, immunomodulatory, hypoglycaemic, steroidogenic and hypolipidaemic effects. Cordycepin contributes to the anti-tumour, insecticidal and antibacterial activity. Ergosterol exhibits anti-tumour and immunomodulatory activity. A DNase has been characterized.
PMID: 16354395 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

14. Comparison of protective effects between cultured Cordyceps militaris and natural Cordyceps sinensis against oxidative damage.
Yu HM, Wang BS, Huang SC, Duh PD.
Department of Pharmacy, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan Hsien, Taiwan, Republic of China.
The Chinese herb DongChong-XiaCao originating from Cordyceps sinensis is widely used as a traditional medicine in China for treatment of a wide variety of diseases. The extracts of Cordyceps sinensis (CSE) and Cordyceps militaris (CME) are well-known for their biological effects. In the present study, the antioxidant efficiency of CME and CSE in protecting lipid, protein, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) against oxidative damage was investigated. CME and CSE showed weakly inhibitory effect on liposome oxidation, that of CME being superior to that of CSE. As for the protein oxidation model system, the inhibitory effect of CME on protein oxidation was inferior to that of CSE. CME and CSE at 1.0 mg/mL showed 50.5 and 67.1% inhibition of LDL oxidation, respectively. The contents of bioactive ingredients cordycepin and adenosine in CME are higher than those of CSE; however, both cordycepin and adenosine showed no significant antioxidant activity as determined by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity method. Polyphenolic and flavonoid contents are 60.2 and 0.598 microg/mL in CME and 31.8 and 0.616 microg/mL in CSE, respectively, which may in part be responsible for their antioxidant activities. In addition, a polysaccharide present in CME and CSE displayed antioxidant activity, which suggested that the activity might be derived partly from polysaccharides of CME and CSE. The tendency to scavenge the ABTS(*)(+) free radical and the reducing ability of CME and CSE display concentration-dependent manners, suggesting that CME and CSE may be potent hydrogen donators. On the basis of the results obtained, the protective effects of CME and CSE against oxidative damage of biomolecules are a result of their free radical scavenging abilities.
PMID: 16608242 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

15. An experimental study on anti-aging action of Cordyceps extract [Article in Chinese]
Wang YH, Ye J, Li CL, Cai SQ, Ishizaki M, Katada M.
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate anti-aging effect and mechanism of Cordyceps extract(CSE) on aged mice induced by D-galactose. METHOD: The aged mice were induced by D-galactose. Meanwhile, they were treated with three doses of CSE. Then the ability of learning and memory, the activity of antioxidase in the different tissue, the contents of MDA of brain and liver were measured after 6 weeks. RESULT: CSE could significantly increase the ability of learning and memory, improve the activity of SOD of red blood cells, brain and liver, the activity of Na(+) -K(+) -ATPE of brain, the activity of CAT and GSH-Px of blood, and remarkably decrease the activity of MAO of brain and the contents of MDA of brain and liver. CONCLUSION: CSE has good anti-aging effects on the aged mice, which is probably due to effects of improving antioxidation and removing free radicals.
PMID: 15506292 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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