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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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13.07.2024 |
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Arctigenin | This phytochemical in Arctium lappa blocks coronaviruses
Supplementation with arctigenin, a substance in Arctium lappa, may have an antiviral effect when it comes to coronaviruses that cause the common cold - and perhaps also Covid-19. This is suggested by an in vitro study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Study
The researchers determined how well the virus was able to infect the cells, then replicate and then emerge from the cells so that it could spread further.
At the same time, the Koreans exposed the cells to different concentrations of an ethanol based extract from the fruits of Forsythia virensis or the Chinese Golden Bell Tree. Because traditional Chinese and Japanese healers use extracts of that fruit against infectious diseases, the researchers wondered whether the extract had an antiviral effect.
Results
The extract [FVFE] reduced the virus in both measurements, as shown in the figures below. Click on it for a larger version.
The virus killed the cells. The extract was able to soften this effect a bit.
When the Koreans analyzed their extract, they found three prominent compounds that could cause its antiviral effects. These were arctiine [ACT], matairesinol [MT] and arctigenin [ATG].
Readers of this free web magazine know arctigenin as the main active substance in Arctium lappa or Greater Burdock. Japanese traditional healers use extracts from that plant to treat skin rashes, sore throats and arthritis, among other things. In animal studies, these extracts increase the concentration of testosterone.
In other animal studies, arctigenin increases endurance, probably by activating AMPK. The human equivalent of the dosage required for this is in the order of magnitude of a few tens of milligrams per day.
Arctigenin mainly reduced the number of viruses released from the cells after infection, but also made the virus less lethal to the cells.
We have written before about antiviral supplementation against coronaviruses. The best substantiated supplement in this regard is vitamin D, but trials also report positive effects of administering quercetin and quercetin metabolites such as rutin. In addition, there are also indications of antiviral effects of zinc, vitamin C and NO boosters such as L-arginine.
These substances enhance each other's effect, but the addition of arctigenine could probably further increase the effectiveness of an immunomodulatory supplement with the above-mentioned components. As far as we know, these components mainly inhibit the entry of viruses into cells and the phases that immediately follow, but not so much in the very last phase.
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