Ginseng

From Life Extension Fellowship's What's Hot Archive, Nov. 2003:



>November 21, 2003

Ginseng reduces oxidative stress associated with aging in rats

The November 2003 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reported the findings of researchers from the University of Wisconsin that ginseng protects against oxidative stress in aging rodents. Oxidative stress occurs when dangerous molecules known as free radicals overwhelm the body's antioxidant defense system and cause oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, DNA and other molecules.

The researchers divided four month old and twenty-two month old female rats into three groups who were fed a diet supplemented with a low dose of powdered North American ginseng, a high dose of the herb, or no ginseng. When oxidant generation was measured in tissue samples from three different locations, it was found to be lower in both the young and old rats who received ginseng, with those who received the greater dose having experienced the least amount of oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase , one of the antioxidants made in the body, was elevated in the heart and deep portion of the vastus lateralis muscle of rats who received the higher dose of ginseng. Another endogenous antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase , was elevated in the vastus lateralis and soleus muscles of this group. When lipid peroxidation (an indicator of oxidative damage to cellular lipids) was measured, there was no benefit observed in the rats who received ginseng, but protein carbonyl content, a measurement of protein oxidation, was improved in the heart and vastus lateralis muscle of those who received the greater dose.

Thus it was concluded that ginseng prevents the age-associated increase in oxidant production in rats as well as oxidative protein damage. Prior research on ginseng has utiliz ed Asian varieties, while this study demonstrated the benefits of North American ginseng. Although earlier studies had revealed ginseng's free radical scavenging ability in vitro, this investigation is the first to confirm this benefit in a living model.

-D Dye<

http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2003_11.htm#gros