adaptogen

The term "adaptogen" refers to non-toxic plants or their extracts purported to diminish stress and support overall wellbeing when consumed. However, the definition of an adaptogen is vague and without adequate scientific evidence, making it impossible to determine what exactly makes a substance an adaptogen.

The concept of an adaptogenic effect is not accepted in pharmacological or clinical settings, and is not approved for marketing in the European Union or United States.{{cite journal |vauthors=Siwek M, Woroń J, Wrzosek A, Gupało J, Chrobak AA |title=Harder, better, faster, stronger? Retrospective chart review of adverse events of interactions between adaptogens and antidepressant drugs |journal=Frontiers in Pharmacology |volume=14 |issue= |pages=1271776 |date=2023 |pmid=37829299 |pmc=10565488 |doi=10.3389/fphar.2023.1271776|doi-access=free }} From 2020 to 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued numerous warning letters to manufacturers of dietary supplements making illegal, unapproved health claims for products marketed to contain an adaptogen.{{cite web |title=Warning letters (search term: adaptogen) |url=https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/compliance-actions-and-activities/warning-letters |publisher=US Food and Drug Administration |access-date=5 November 2023 |date=3 November 2023}} As an example in 2020, the FDA issued a warning letter to a manufacturer of mushroom supplements purported to contain adaptogens having diverse antidisease effects, stating that such products "are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced uses and, therefore, these products are "new drugs" under section 201(p) of the FD&C Act [21 U.S.C. 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce without prior approval from the FDA."{{cite web |author1=Ronald M. Pace |title=FDA warning letter to Mushroom Revival, Inc. |url=https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/mushroom-revival-inc-610361-12012020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208225920/https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/mushroom-revival-inc-610361-12012020 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 December 2020 |publisher=Division of Human and Animal Food Operations East, US Food and Drug Administration |access-date=5 November 2023 |date=8 December 2020}}

The term "adaptogens" was coined in 1947 by Soviet toxicologist Nikolai Lazarev to describe substances that may increase resistance to stress.{{cite journal |last1=Panossian |first1=Alexander |last2=Wikman |first2=George |title=Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress—Protective Activity |journal=Pharmaceuticals |date=2010 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=188–224 |doi=10.3390/ph3010188|pmid=27713248 |pmc=3991026 |doi-access=free }}{{cite web|publisher=European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products|url=https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/scientific-guideline/reflection-paper-adaptogenic-concept_en.pdf|title=Reflection Paper on the Adaptogenic Concept|date=8 May 2008|access-date=26 October 2020}} The term "adaptogenesis" was later applied in the Soviet Union to describe remedies thought to increase the resistance of organisms to biological stress. Most of the studies conducted on adaptogens were performed in the Soviet Union, Korea, and China before the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} As of 2020, the term was not accepted in pharmacological, physiological, or mainstream clinical practices in the European Union.

Compounds studied for putative adaptogenic properties are often derived from the following plants:{{unreliable source?|date=April 2024|reason=source is unreliable with extensive misinformation - an MDPI predatory journal - none of these plants or extracts has scientifically verified effects in vivo}}

• Eleutherococcus senticosus
• Oplopanax elatus
• Panax ginseng
• Rhaponticum cartamoides
• Rhodiola rosea
• Schisandra chinensis
• Withania somnifera

• List of Russian drugs

{{Reflist}}

Category:Herbalism

Category:Pharmaceutics