Vol.5, No.9, 1509-1515 (2013) Health http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/health.2013.59205 Eleutherococcus senticosus: Studies and effects* Aline Arouca, Dora Maria Grassi-Kassisse# Department of Structural and Functional Biology, Laboratory of Stress Study, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil; #Corresponding Author: [email protected], [email protected] Received 13 June 2013; revised 14 July 2013; accepted 19 August 2013 Copyright © 2013 Aline Arouca, Dora Maria Grassi-Kassisse. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT ture. Ginseng is one of the most popular herbal sup- Keywords: Eleutherococcus senticosus; Ginseng; plements in the world. It is a plant widely used in Eleutherosides; Ciwujianosides folk and traditional medicines for cardiovascular, immune, nervous and endocrine systems, and according to the researchers, it has the ability to 1. INTRODUCTION increase the non-specific resistance state, which Eleutherococcus senticosus, world widely known as characterizes it as an adaptogenic substance. Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim), belongs to There are different species of ginseng, such as the Araliaceae plant family, as well as other types of gin- the American, Chinese, Korean and Japanese seng (Latin name), a generic term given to all species of ginseng; the Korean species (Panax ginseng) is Panax [1]. It is also known as Siberian or Russian ginseng, being used for thousands of years as a tonic, ciwujia, eleuthero, eleuthero ginseng, touch-me-not and prophylactic and “restorative” agent, with power- devil’s shrub [2,3]. ful antioxidant properties. For a long time, its Ginseng is one of the most popular herbal supplements use was empirical, because people used to beli- in the world [2]. It is a widely used plant in folk and tra- eve that it was a panacea that promoted longe- ditional medicines for the cardiovascular, immune, ner- vity, with beneficial effects for the treatment of vous, and endocrine systems, and according to the resear- physical fatigues. Nowadays, the active compo- chers Brekhman & Dardymov (1969) [4], it has the ability nents of Eleutherococcus senticosus are well to increase the non-specific resistance state, which charac- described, however, there are no data on the terizes it as an adaptogenic substance. quantity of a certain class of these secondary There are other species of ginseng, such as the Ame- compounds produced in each species. Although rican, Chinese, Korean and Japanese ginseng [5]; the Ko- the Eleutherococcus senticosus extract may con- rean species (Panax ginseng) is being used for thousands tain several substances, including vitamins, mi- of years as a tonic, prophylactic and “restorative” agent nerals, cellulose, and ethanol, the substances (3), with powerful antioxidant properties [6]. For a long responsible for inducing various physiological time, its use was empirical, because people used to believe responses are the eleutherosides (in the root) it was a panacea that promoted longevity, with beneficial and ciwujianosides (in the leaf). As Eleutheroco- effects for the treatment of physical fatigue [7]. ccus senticosus receives great attention by show- The use of Panax as a source of raw materials for phar- ing that its active components can provide protec- maceuticals was very expensive for many years [2,5]. tion against oxidative stress, among other bene- Therefore, a group of Russian researchers looked for al- fits, contributing to health and the prevention ternatives, and after the discovery, many years later, at the and treatment of diseases, such as diabetes, can- end of 1950, Eleutherococcus senticosus (ES) was recog- cer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation. nized as a new medicinal plant [2,3]. Despite having been The purpose of this article is to describe the main, described only in 1950, Eleutherococcus senticosus is a adverse and toxicological effects of Eleuthero- plant used by the Chinese for over 2000 years. Some re- coccus senticosus recently related in the litera- ports describe its use as a medicinal remedy for the treat- ment of infections, resistance to fatigue and for immuno- *This study was supported by CAPES. logical improvement [8]. Copyright © 2013 SciRes. OPEN ACCESS 1510 A. Arouca, D. M. Grassi-Kassisse / Health 5 (2013) 1509-1515 In 1982, Baranov [9] concluded that the chronic admi- niferaldehyde. These precursors have shown a significant nistration of Eleutherococcus senticosus was more advan- antioxidant activity [15]. tageous when compared to Panax, because it does not Although the Eleutherococcus senticosus extract may cause arousal in patients. It has a more intense protective contain several substances, including vitamins, minerals, effect on the immune system; in addition, it does not lead cellulose and ethanol [14], the substances responsible for to the development of a similar stress syndrome. The inducing various physiological responses are the eleuthe- seasonality influences the effects of these two types of rosides (in the root) and ciwujianosides (in the leaf) [1]. ginseng, but there is not much variation in Eleutheroco- ccus senticosus (ES) [3]. 3. MAIN EFFECTS OF ES was recently included in the European Pharmaco- ELEUTHEROCOCCUS SENTICOSUS poeia as a medicine derived from plants and it is, therefore, Eleutherococcus senticosus, as well as Panax ginseng, suitable for use in traditional herbal medicines and asso- seems to have a stimulating effect on the metabolism of ciations [10]. substrates, as it significantly alters the mobilization and The 1994 DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and utilization of carbohydrates and fatty acids. Since the Education Act) regulation allows a direct commercializa- metabolism of substrates is essential, different types of tion of ES as a supplement for consumption in the United ginseng can have ergogenic effect [5]. Table 1 shows se- States without the regulation of the FDA (Food and Drug veral studies performed in humans, using a supplemen- Administration) [11]. tation made from ES, among other types of ginseng. Ac- 2. ACTIVE COMPONENTS OF cording to the studies, we may observe that the acute ELEUTHEROCOCCUS SENTICOSUS supplementation has no effect on physical performance, whereas chronic supplementation can provide significant The active components of Eleutherococcus senticosus, changes in various biochemical parameters. the eleutherosides, were initially coded from A to F [12], Some studies, using the supplementation of Eleuthero- and years later, Hikino et al. (1986) [13] studied seven coccus senticosus, report an improvement in heart rate eleutherosides coded as A, B, C, D, E, F and G, and recovery after physical exercise, improvement of the lac- through acid hydrolysis of these components, obtained the tate removal ability, greater ability to obtain energy from formation of glycosides, such as rhamnose, arabinose, xy- aerobic metabolism (by increasing the oxygen consump- lose, mannose, galactose and glucose. tion and utilization of fatty acids as a source of energy) Based on several studies by Wagner et al. (1994) [14], and, therefore, an improvement of the performance [3,8, the ES components were rated as phenylpropanes, com- 18-20]. These authors believe that these improvements pounds, lignans, coumarins, polysaccharides and other are due to the action of eleutherosides, responsible for in- compounds, such as oleanolic acid, aromatic oils and ducing various physiological responses, which are pre- sugar [8]. In an attempt to bring order to these chemicals sent in the root of Eleutherococcus senticosus [1]. compounds, ES was divided into two classes: 1. Triterpe- The extracts from different parts of ES have been con- noid saponins, which are glycosides of oleanolic acid (re- sidered good for health [21]. The ES antioxidant effect is ferred to as eleutherosides I, K, L and M), and 2. Phenyl- related to improvements in the treatment of diabetes, propane derivatives (eleutherosides B, B1, D and E), which cancer and inflammatory state, in addition to their immu- are mostly glycosylated [15]. noregulatory and immunomodulatory property, and anti- The ES root extract is standardized in 0.6% to 0.8% of microbial and antiviral activity [11]. eleutherosides, depending on the extraction method of so- Six secondary compounds found in Eleutherococcus lids [16,17]. senticosus have demonstrated antioxidant effects (such as Unfortunately, there are no data on the quantity of a siringina, caffeic acid, ethyl aldehyde, coniferyl alde- certain class of these secondary compounds produced in hyde), four had antioxidant effects in cancer (sesamin, β- each species. These compounds include, but are not limit- sitosterol, isofraxidine), and three had hypocholesterole- ed to, phenylpropanoids (siringina, caffeic acid, sinapyl mic activities (sesamin, β-sitosterol and β-sitosterol 3-D- alcohol, and coniferyl aldehyde), lignans (sesamin, syrin- glucoside) [15]. garesinol and its glycoside), saponins (daucosterol, β-sito- Sesamin and siringina demonstrated immunostimula- sterol, and hederasaponine-B), coumarins (isofraxidine and tory activity, while isofraxidine showed choleretic activ- its glycoside) and vitamins (vitamin E and beta-carotene) ity. Siringina demonstrated radioprotective property, and [15]. antibacterial activity of caffeic acid [15]. Eleutherococcus not only synthesizes lignans, but also The hypocholesterolemic