Rhodiola Rosea Conserves Glutathione in Erythrocytes

[Guest guest]

I ordered this for myself a few days ago, without knowing it had any

connection to Glutathione. It's been in use in traditional medicine

for a long time and I was looking for energy tonics that I thought

would be safe for someone like me.

Rich, have you read about this one?

Biofactors. 2004;20(3):147-59.

In vitro protective effect of Rhodiola rosea extract against

hypochlorous acid-induced oxidative damage in human erythrocytes.

De Sanctis R, De Bellis R, Scesa C, Mancini U, Cucchiarini L, Dacha

M.

Istituto di Chimica Biologica " Giorgio Fornaini " , Universita degli

Studi di Urbino " Carlo Bo " , Urbino (PU), Italy.

Rhodiola rosea L. (Crassulaceae) is a plant living at high altitudes

in Europe and Asia. Its roots have long been used in the traditional

medical system of these geographical areas to increase the organism

resistance to physical stress; today, it has become an important

component of many dietary supplements.

In this study we investigate the antioxidant capacity of the R.

rosea aqueous extract evaluating its ability to counteract some of

the main damages induced by hypochlorous acid (HOCl), a powerful

oxidant generated by activated phagocytes, to human erythrocytes.

Ascorbic acid was used as a reference substance because of its

physiological HOCl-scavenging ability. Our study demonstrates that

R. rosea is able to significantly protect, in a dose-dependent

manner, human RBC from glutathione (GSH) depletion, glyceraldehyde-3-

phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) inactivation and hemolysis induced

by the oxidant.

Furthermore, we demonstrate that R. rosea aqueous extract acts from

the inside of the erythrocyte suggesting a probable involving of

cell components. The protection on GSH afforded by the R. rosea

extract with respect to ascorbic acid, occurred also if added 2 or 5

min. later than the oxidant, suggesting a more rapid or powerful

effect.

PMID: 15665385 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]