DSM Nutritional Products Limited, Research and Development Human Nutrition and Health, PO Box 2676, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.
Br J Nutr. 2011 Apr;105(8):1150-63. doi: 10.1017/S0007114510004940. Epub 2010 Dec 21.
A healthy, balanced diet is essential for both physical and mental well-being. Such a diet must include an adequate intake of micronutrients, essential fatty acids, amino acids and antioxidants. The monoamine neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline, are derived from dietary amino acids and are involved in the modulation of mood, anxiety, cognition, sleep regulation and appetite. The capacity of nutritional interventions to elevate brain monoamine concentrations and, as a consequence, with the potential for mood enhancement, has not been extensively evaluated. The present study investigated an extract from oregano leaves, with a specified range of active constituents, identified via an unbiased, high-throughput screening programme. The oregano extract was demonstrated to inhibit the reuptake and degradation of the monoamine neurotransmitters in a dose-dependent manner, and microdialysis experiments in rats revealed an elevation of extracellular serotonin levels in the brain. Furthermore, following administration of oregano extract, behavioural responses were observed in mice that parallel the beneficial effects exhibited by monoamine-enhancing compounds when used in human subjects. In conclusion, these data show that an extract prepared from leaves of oregano, a major constituent of the Mediterranean diet, is brain-active, with moderate triple reuptake inhibitory activity, and exhibits positive behavioural effects in animal models. We postulate that such an extract may be effective in enhancing mental well-being in humans.
健康、均衡的饮食对于身心健康都是必不可少的。这种饮食必须包括足够的微量营养素、必需脂肪酸、氨基酸和抗氧化剂。单胺神经递质，如血清素、多巴胺和去甲肾上腺素，来源于饮食中的氨基酸，参与调节情绪、焦虑、认知、睡眠调节和食欲。营养干预提高大脑单胺浓度的能力，以及因此可能增强情绪的潜力，尚未得到广泛评估。本研究调查了一种从牛至叶中提取的具有特定活性成分范围的提取物，这些成分是通过一种无偏见的高通量筛选计划确定的。牛至提取物被证明以剂量依赖的方式抑制单胺神经递质的再摄取和降解，并且在大鼠的微透析实验中发现大脑中细胞外血清素水平升高。此外，在给予牛至提取物后，在小鼠中观察到行为反应，这些反应与在人类受试者中使用增强单胺的化合物所表现出的有益效果相似。总之，这些数据表明，从地中海饮食的主要成分牛至叶中制备的提取物具有脑活性，对三重再摄取具有中等抑制活性，并在动物模型中表现出积极的行为效应。我们推测，这种提取物可能对增强人类的心理健康有效。
