Rhodiolife® Rhodiola rosea

Complementing the body of published work on Rhodiola rosea, preclinical and clinical trials using Rhodiolife have been conducted and publishe

Rhodiolife increases physical working capacity - pre-clinical

Design
• 24 Sprague-Dawley Rats given R. rosea (Rhodiolife), R. crenulata, or control via oral gavage (50 mg/kg)
• Twice-daily exhaustive swimming sessions for six days
• Outcomes measured
• Time to exhaustion
• Skeletal muscle mitochondrial ATP

Results
• Mean time to exhaustion was virtually the same in rats treated with R. crenulata and controls (34.2-35.5 minutes)
• Mean time to exhaustion in Rhodiolife-treated rats was far greater (45 minutes)
• ATP content in the mitochondria decreased after swimming exercise in all animals.  However, the decrease in rats receiving Rhodiolife was less pronounced  in comparison with not only the control, but also with the R. crenulata group (p<0.05)

In this animal study, the effects of two different Rhodiola extracts were studied on physical performance and muscle health.

The graph shows that rats supplemented with RhodioLife were able to swim almost 25% longer than control or R. crenulata supplemented rats.  This may be due in part to the ability of R. rosea extract to activate the synthesis or resynthesis of ATP in mitochondria and stimulate reparative energy processes during and after intense exercise.  As shown in Table 1, rats in the RhodioLife supplemented group had less of a decline in muscle ATP than did rats in either of the other 2 groups.

NOTE: Salidroside content in R. crenulata extract was 2.5 times higher than in R. rosea extract. Hence, the effects of R. rosea extract are due to the presence of rosavins and/or their complex with other compounds.

REF: Abidov M, Crendal F, Grachev S, Seifulla R, Ziegenfuss T. Effect of Extracts from Rhodiola Rosea and Rhodiola Crenulata (Crassulaceae) Roots on ATP Content in Mitochondria of Skeletal Muscles. Bull Expo Biol Med. 2003;136(6):585–7.

Rhodiolife produces brain-wave activity similar to ginkgo

Quantitative EEG Discriminant Analysis provides a unique comparison

Design
• Male adult Fischer rats implanted with qEEG electrodes
• Rhodiolife extract administered orally by gavage (100 mg/kg)
• Outcomes measured
     • Analysis of spectral power by qEEG 
     • In vitro hippocampal slice analysis

Results
• Rhodiola attenuated delta and theta power, likely related to interference with the cholinergic and norepinephrinergic transmission, respectively.
• Using discriminant analysis for comparison with reference pharmaceutical and botanical drugs, Rhodiola projected near the position of Ginkgo extract.

Dimpfel W, Schombert L, Vega-Morales T, Wiebe JC.  Neuropharmacological Characterization of Extracts from Rhodiola rosea, Oenothera paradoxa and Paullinia cupana in Comparison to Caffeine. Pharmacol Pharm. 2016;7(7). DOI: 10.4236/pp.2016.77036

Rhodiolife supports muscle during exercise

Anti-inflammatory and muscle-protective effects in humans

RhodioLife has also been studied in untrained humans as well.  In this study, subjects consumed RhodioLife before and after exhausting physical exercise on an ergometer.  

Design
• N=36 healthy, untrained volunteers aged 21-24 years
• Supplemented 30 d prior and 6 d after exhausting physical exercise with:
     • Placebo (340 mg twice/day)
     • Rhodiola rosea (Rhodiolife, 340 mg twice/day)
     • Control (no treatment)

Results
• Less pronounced rise in CRP in the Rhodiolife group. Levels returned to baseline only in this group.
• Creatine Kinase (CK) was also blunted in the Rhodiolife supplemented subjects

Rhodiolife may reduce occasional anxiety

Pilot clinical trial in adults with anxiety

In this small, pilot study, 10 participants with DSM-IV diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder were supplemented with RhodioLife for 10 weeks.  Several assessments to clinically evaluate symptoms at baseline and following supplementation were used.

Design
• N=10 subjects with anxiety
• Open-label design
• Rhodiola rosea (Rhodiolife) 340 mg/d for 10 weeks
• Assessments:
     • Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A or HARS) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D or HDRS)
     • Four-Dimensional Anxiety and Depression Scale (FDADS)
     • Clinical Global Impressions of Severity/Improvement Scale

Results
• Daily Rhodiolife consumption decreased ratings on scales of anxiety (HAM-A) and depression (HAM-D). (p=0.001)
• Self-rated scores on FDADS also significantly decreased (p=0.043

*p<0.05 vs control, placebo

Abidov M et al. Bull Exp Biol Med 2004;7:63-4.
A less pronounced rise in the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein was observed in the Rhodiolife supplemented subjects.  CRP levels returned to baseline only in this group.  
Creatine Kinase, a marker of muscle breakdown or damage was also blunted in the RhodioLife supplemented subjects
1. Exhausting exercise increased both CRP and CK levels in all subjects, but the rise in CRP was less pronounced at 5 hours for subjects consuming Rhodiolife.  CRP returned to pre-test levels only in the RhodioLife group.
2. Similarly, elevated CK levels remained high 5 days post-test for both placebo and control groups but was significantly lower in the group supplemented with RhodioLife.