In the early 1960’s, the study of adaptogens developed into a field of biomedicinal research in its own right in the USSR. Īt the end of the 1960s Brekhman and Dardimov proposed that adaptogens are innocuous agents, nonspecifically increasing resistance against physically, chemically, biologically and psychologically noxious factors (“stressors”), normalizing effect independent of the nature of pathologic state. Thus, the stimulating and anti-fatigue effect of adaptogens has been documented in both in animals and in humans. The higher it is, the better the adaptation to stress. Instead of exhaustion, a higher level of equilibrium (the homeostasis) is attained the heterostasis. This concept was based on Hans Selye’s theory of stress and general adaptation syndrome, which have three phases: alarm phase, phase of resistance and phase of exhaustion, Figure 1.Īdaptogens increase the state of non-specific resistance in stress and decrease sensitivity to stressors, which results in stress protection, and prolong the phase of resistance ( stimulatory effect).
During the period 1950–60, the idea of using herbal medicinal plants to increase stamina and survival in harmful environment was developed, and a new concept of “adaptogens” was introduced by the toxicologist Lazarev to describe compounds which could increase “the state of non-specific resistance” in stress. It was discovered that the berries and seeds were used by Nanai (Goldes or Samagir) hunters as a tonic, to reduce thirst, hunger and exhaustion, and to improve night vision. chinensis arises from ethnopharmacological investigations by Komarov (1895) and Arsenyev (1903–1907) in the Far East regions. For instance, the first studies on the stimulating and tonic effects of Schisandra chinensis were published in Soviet Union WWII military journals. The idea that a pill could improve mental and physical performance in healthy people was devised during World War II with various stimulants given to pilots and members of submarine crews. It was discovered that the stress-protective activity of adaptogens was associated with regulation of homeostasis via several mechanisms of action, which was linked with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the regulation of key mediators of stress response, such as molecular chaperons (e.g., HSP70), stress-activated c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase 1 (JNK1), Forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factor DAF-16, cortisol and nitric oxide. Indeed, recent pharmacological studies of a number of adaptogens have provided a rationale for these effects also at the molecular level. In addition, a number of clinical trials demonstrate that adaptogens exert an anti-fatigue effect that increases mental work capacity against a background of stress and fatigue, particularly in tolerance to mental exhaustion and enhanced attention. Studies on animals and isolated neuronal cells have revealed that adaptogens exhibit neuroprotective, anti-fatigue, antidepressive, anxiolytic, nootropic and CNS stimulating activity.
Adaptogens were initially defined as substances that enhance the “state of non-specific resistance” in stress, a physiological condition that is linked with various disorders of the neuroendocrine-immune system.
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