Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
Department of Pharmaceutical sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan.
Nutrients. 2020 May 28;12(6):1582. doi: 10.3390/nu12061582.
Ginseng is a traditional herbal adaptogen that has been historically used in China and the Far East. Ginsenosides are the active component of ginseng known to exert several actions by targeting "multi-receptor systems", both extracellular and intracellular. In humans, ginseng effects remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether ginseng can influence salivary androgen levels (testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) in females. The study followed a parallel partially controlled design. Healthy women ( = 24) were recruited and divided into two groups (A = 20-32 and B = 38-50 years). Volunteers were asked to maintain a food diary pre and post ginseng consumption and collected four salivary samples (7 a.m., 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 5 p.m.) before and after ingesting 75 mg red Korean ginseng extract per day for seven days. Testosterone and DHEA were then assayed by ELISA methods. Group A's mean daily salivary testosterone pre ginseng ingestion increased from 76.3 ± 16.6 to 98.4 ± 21.1 pg/mL post ginseng (p < 0.01) with significant difference at all time points, and mean daily salivary DHEA increased from 1.53 ± 0.63 to 1.98 ± 0.89 ng/mL post ginseng ( = 0.02). Group B's mean daily salivary testosterone pre ginseng ingestion was 61.2 ± 16.9 and post ginseng 68.1 ± 11.5 pg/mL ( = 0.132), and daily salivary DHEA increased from 0.91 ± 0.32 to 1.62 ± 0.49 ng/mL post ginseng ( = 0.014) with significant difference at all time points. In conclusion, it appears that ginseng intake significantly increased salivary testosterone levels in the younger women group, but only slightly in the older group. However, DHEA levels in the older women showed a marked and significant increase. These results suggest a potential role for ginseng in modulating salivary androgen levels and that such effect may be more evident in older women where the levels of androgens (DHEA) start to decline. However, it has to be stressed that our results are preliminary and further properly controlled trials are justified.
人参是一种传统的草药适应原，历史上在中国和远东地区被使用。人参皂苷是人参的活性成分，已知通过靶向“多受体系统”发挥多种作用，包括细胞外和细胞内。在人类中，人参的作用仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨人参是否能影响女性唾液中的雄激素水平（睾酮和脱氢表雄酮（DHEA））。该研究采用平行部分对照设计。招募了健康女性（= 24 人），并将其分为两组（A 组：20-32 岁；B 组：38-50 岁）。志愿者在服用 75 毫克红参提取物之前和之后被要求维持食物日记，并在每天摄入 75 毫克红参提取物七天前后采集 4 个唾液样本（上午 7 点、9 点、12 点和下午 5 点）。然后用人 ELISA 方法测定睾酮和 DHEA。A 组女性在服用人参之前的唾液睾酮平均日摄入量从 76.3 ± 16.6 增加到服用人参后的 98.4 ± 21.1 pg/mL（p < 0.01），并且所有时间点均有显著差异，而 DHEA 的平均日摄入量从 1.53 ± 0.63 增加到 1.98 ± 0.89 ng/mL 后服用人参（= 0.02）。B 组女性在服用人参之前的唾液睾酮平均日摄入量为 61.2 ± 16.9，服用人参后为 68.1 ± 11.5 pg/mL（= 0.132），DHEA 从 0.91 ± 0.32 增加到 1.62 ± 0.49 ng/mL 后服用人参（= 0.014），并且所有时间点均有显著差异。总之，人参摄入似乎明显增加了年轻女性组唾液中的睾酮水平，但对老年组影响较小。然而，老年女性的 DHEA 水平明显且显著增加。这些结果表明，人参在调节唾液雄激素水平方面可能发挥作用，并且这种作用在雄激素（DHEA）水平开始下降的老年女性中可能更为明显。但是，必须强调的是，我们的结果是初步的，需要进行进一步的适当对照试验。
