Antioxidant Effects of Panax Ginseng
in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized,
Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

This section was compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:   Frankp@chiro.org

FROM:   Food Chem Toxicol. 2011 (Sep);   49 (9):   2229–2235

Kim HG, Yoo SR, Park HJ, Lee NH, Shin JW, Sathyanath R, Cho JH, Son CG.

Liver and Immunology Research Center,
Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Oriental Medical Collage of Daejeon University,
22-5 Daehung-dong, Jung-gu,
Daejeon 301-724, South Korea.

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This study investigated the antioxidant effects of panax ginseng in healthy adults. The randomized, placebo-controlled trial included 82 participants who were randomly divided into one of three groups. One group received 1 gram per day of panax ginseng, the second group received 2 grams of panax ginseng per day and the third group received placebo for a total of four weeks. Researchers measured levels of antioxidant defense mechanisms in all of the participants. The results revealed that panax ginseng was shown to have antioxidant properties that helped improve antioxidant defense mechanisms in healthy adults.

We investigated the antioxidant effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer on healthy volunteers. In a double-blind randomized controlled design, 82 participants (21 men and 61 women) who were considered healthy by both objective and subjective health standard were divided into three groups, the control group and the groups received P. ginseng extract (1 or 2g/day) for 4 weeks. Serum level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GSH-Rd), and peroxidase (GSH-Px), and total glutathione content were determined before and after the trial. Administration of P. ginseng led to significant decreases in the levels of serum ROS and MDA. Notably, the total glutathione content and GSH-Rd activity considerably improved in the groups that received 2g of P. ginseng. No significant alterations were observed in TAC, catalase, SOD, and GSH-Px activities. In conclusion, our findings indicate that P. ginseng was shown to have antioxidant property. It enhanced the antioxidant defense mechanism in healthy populations and the results may reinforce the use of P. ginseng as a potential antioxidant supplement.

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