{{Short description|Substance used in herbal medicine}} {{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
'''Adaptogens''', or '''adaptogenic''' substances, are used in herbal medicine for the purported stabilization of physiological processes and promotion of homeostasis.<ref name="Brekhman">{{cite journal |last1=Brekhman |first1=I. I. |last2=Dardymov |first2=I. V. |doi=10.1146/annurev.pa.09.040169.002223 |title=New Substances of Plant Origin which Increase Nonspecific Resistance |journal=Annual Review of Pharmacology |volume=9 |pages=419–430 |year=1969 |pmid=4892434}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adaptogen |title=Adaptogen |publisher=Dictionary.com |date=2012}}</ref> The concept of adaptogens is not accepted in mainstream science and is not approved as a marketing term in the European Union or United States.
[[File:Rhodiolaroseadried.jpg|thumb|Dried ''Rhodiola rosea'' root, cited as an adaptogen.<ref name="pmid37641937">{{cite journal |vauthors=Tinsley GM, Jagim AR, Potter GD, Garner D, Galpin AJ |title=Rhodiola rosea as an adaptogen to enhance exercise performance: a review of the literature |journal=British Journal of Nutrition |volume= 131|issue= 3|pages=461–473 |date=August 2023 |pmid=37641937 |doi=10.1017/S0007114523001988 |doi-access=free |s2cid=261338292|pmc=10784128 }}</ref>]]
==Concept and non-acceptance== The term "adaptogen" refers to non-toxic plants or their extracts purported to diminish stress and support overall wellbeing when consumed.<ref name=siwek/> 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.<ref name=siwek/>
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.<ref name="siwek">{{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= |article-number=1271776 |date=2023 |pmid=37829299 |pmc=10565488 |doi=10.3389/fphar.2023.1271776|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=fda/> 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.<ref name="fda">{{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}}</ref> 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."<ref name="fda-mush">{{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 |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}}</ref>
==History== The term "adaptogens" was coined in 1947 by Soviet toxicologist Nikolai Lazarev to imply substances that may increase resistance to stress.<ref name="ema.europa.eu">{{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}}</ref> The term "adaptogenesis" was later applied in the Soviet Union to describe remedies thought to increase the resistance of organisms to biological stress.<ref name="Brekhman" />
As of 2020, the term was not accepted in pharmacological, physiological, or mainstream clinical practices in the European Union.<ref name="ema.europa.eu" />
== Sources == Compounds studied for putative adaptogenic properties are often derived from the following plants:{{unreliable source|date=April 2024|reason=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''
== See also == * List of Russian drugs
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Herbalism Category:Pharmaceutics