Russian Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.)
I wrote this for my current log,I thought it's appropriate to post it here as well.
[center][size=3][b]Russian Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.)[/size][/b]
[img]http://am129767.persiangig.com/rt.png[/img][/center]
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) is a plant of the Asteraceae family which is called the "King of Herbs" by the French.There're 2 kinds of tarragon cultivated in herb gardens : The French Tarragon (Native of the Southern Europe & the Mediterranean area) & the Russian Tarragon (Native in Siberia and Western Asia).Russian Tarragon has more medicinal use than culinary.There is another variety of tarragon which is actually a member of the marigold family (Tagetes lucida) commonly called Mexican Marigold or Winter Tarragon.
RT may increase insulin,lower blood glucose levels (Treating diabetes-associated hyperglycemia) & reduce blood insulin levels in mildly diabetic patients.It has a traditional Persian history of use as a natural cleanser of the blood and for the treatment of headaches and dizziness.It is a common part of diet in Iran.
Essential oil extracted from RT may also have potential as an anticonvulsant and as a mild sedative*.
[b]How does RT work?[/b]
The 2 polyphenolic compounds 6-demethoxycapillarisin & 2',4'-dihydroxy-4-methoxydihydrochalcone are responsible for the hypoglycemic effect of RT.
[quote]Wang ZQ, Ribnicky D, Zhang XH, Raskin I, Yu Y, Cefalu WT.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
An alcoholic extract of Artemisia dracunculus L (PMI 5011) has been shown to decrease glucose and improve insulin levels in animal models, suggesting an ability to enhance insulin sensitivity. We sought to assess the cellular mechanism by which this botanical affects carbohydrate metabolism in primary human skeletal muscle culture. We measured basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, glycogen accumulation, phosphoinositide 3 (PI-3) kinase activity, and Akt phosphorylation in primary skeletal muscle culture from subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus incubated with or without various concentrations of PMI 5011. We also analyzed the abundance of insulin receptor signaling proteins, for example, IRS-1, IRS-2, and PI-3 kinase. Glucose uptake was significantly increased in the presence of increasing concentrations of PMI 5011. In addition, glycogen accumulation, observed to be decreased with increasing free fatty acid levels, was partially restored with PMI 5011. PMI 5011 treatment did not appear to significantly affect protein abundance for IRS-1, IRS-2, PI-3 kinase, Akt, insulin receptor, or Glut-4. However, PMI 5011 significantly decreased levels of a specific protein tyrosine phosphatase, that is, PTP1B. Time course studies confirmed that protein abundance of PTP1B decreases in the presence of PMI 5011. The cellular mechanism of action to explain the effects by which an alcoholic extract of A dracunculus L improves carbohydrate metabolism on a clinical level may be secondary to enhancing insulin receptor signaling and modulating levels of a specific protein tyrosine phosphatase, that is, PTP1B.
PMID: 18555856[/quote]
[quote]Govorko D, Logendra S, Wang Y, Esposito D, Komarnytsky S, Ribnicky D, Poulev A, Wang Z, Cefalu WT, Raskin I.
Rutgers University, Biotech Center, 59 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
An ethanolic extract of Russian tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus L., with antihyperglycemic activity in animal models was reported to decrease phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) mRNA expression in STZ-induced diabetic rats. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was developed for the bioactivity-guided purification of the compounds within the extract that decrease PEPCK expression. The assay was based on the inhibition of dexamethasone-stimulated PEPCK upregulation in an H4IIE hepatoma cell line. Two polyphenolic compounds that inhibited PEPCK mRNA levels were isolated and identified as 6-demethoxycapillarisin and 2',4'-dihydroxy-4-methoxydihydrochalcone with IC(50) values of 43 and 61 muM, respectively. [b]The phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY-294002 showed that 6-demethoxycapillarisin exerts its effect through the activation of the PI3K pathway, similarly to insulin. The effect of 2',4'-dihydroxy-4-methoxydihydrochalcone is not regulated by PI3K and dependent on activation of AMPK pathway[/b]. These results indicate that the isolated compounds may be responsible for much of the glucose-lowering activity of the Artemisia dracunculus extract.
PMID: 17848630[/quote]
[b]How much should I take?[/b]
The suggested dose to increase the uptake of 5g creatine is 2x0.5g.
[quote]Ralf J?ger, Iain P Kendrick, Martin Purpura, Roger C Harris, David M Ribnicky and Ivo Pischel
Background : It has previously been shown that the plasma concentration of creatine following supplementation is influenced by extracellular concentrations of insulin and glucose, the form in which creatine is administered, and also the creatine concentration in the muscle cells. The common practice of raising insulin levels to increase initial uptake into muscle, by means of high amounts of glucose and/or protein, involves a high caloric load which is not always desired by athletes. A standardized extract of Russian Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.), which can be administered safely as an oral supplement, has been shown to have antihyperglycemic activity. This study examined whether the plasma concentration curve following administration of creatine monohydrate was affected by the co-administration of Russian Tarragon extract.
Methods : Eleven healthy male subjects (20.4 +/- 1.5 yrs, 180.0 +/- 7.2 cm) participated in the study. Each subject was assigned to ingest a single dose of 60 mg/kg bwt creatine monohydrate (Creapure, AlzChem, Trostberg, Germany), preceded 15 minutes earlier by ingestion of 2 x 500 mg capsules of a standardized extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. (Finzelberg, Andernach, Germany) or placebo. Plasma creatine concentrations, determined over two hours following ingestion, were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA.
Results : Russian tarragon administration resulted in a significant reduction of plasma creatine levels at 60, 90 and 120 min, in comparison to placebo (Figure 1), as well as a significant reduction in the area under the plasma concentration curve (AUC). The effect of Russian Tarragon is seen as comparable with that of glucose and protein.
[img]http://am129767.persiangig.com/rtc.png[/img]
Plasma creatine concentrations. Mean (SD) plasma creatine concentration (micromo/L) following administration of 60 mg/kg bwt creatine monohydrate, preceded 15 minutes earlier by ingestion of 2 x 500 mg capsules of a standardized extract of Russian Tarragon (A) or placebo (B). The inset shows the mean differences (+/-SD) between treatments in the change from baseline at each time point.
Conclusion : It was concluded that Russian Tarragon influences plasma creatine levels during the ingestion of creatine monohydrate. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of Russian Tarragon on creatine uptake and retention in muscle.[/quote]
[b]Is RT safe?[/b]
[quote]Ribnicky DM, Poulev A, O'Neal J, Wnorowski G, Malek DE, Jager R, Raskin I.
Biotech Center, Cook College, Rutgers University, 59 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520, USA.
TARRALIN* is an ethanolic extract of Artemisia dracunculus (Russian tarragon), a common medicinal and culinary herb with centuries of use. Artemisia dracunculus is a close relative of the French or cooking tarragon and contains components common to many herbs that are routinely consumed without reported adverse effects. Since safety information of Artemisia dracunculus and its extract is limited to historical use, TARRALIN was examined in a series of toxicological studies. Complete Ames analysis did not reveal any mutagenic activity either with or without metabolic activation. TARRALIN was tested in an acute limit test at 5000 mg/kg with no signs of toxicity noted. In a 14 day repeated dose oral toxicity study, rats appeared to well tolerate 1000 mg/kg/day. Subsequently, TARRALIN was tested in an oral subchronic 90-day toxicity study (rat) at doses of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg/day. No noteworthy signs of toxicity were noted in feeding or body weight, functional observational battery or motor activity. Gross necropsy and clinical chemistry did not reveal any effects on organ mass or blood chemistry and microscopic examinations found no lesions associated with treatment. Therefore, TARRALIN appears to be safe and non-toxic in these studies and a no-observed adverse effect level in rats is established at 1000 mg/kg/day.
PMID: 15019182[/quote]
*TARRALIN is the former patent name of RT.