Effects of Panax Notoginseng (Chinese Ginseng) and Acute Exercise on Postprandial Glycemia in Non-diabetic Adults

• Published in: Journal of complementary & integrative medicine Vol. 8; no. 1
• Main Authors: Liang, Michael T.C., Lau, W.Y. Jamie, Sokmen, Bulent, Spalding, Thomas W., Chuang, William J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany De Gruyter 04.01.2012
• Subjects: Adult; Bicycling; Blood Glucose - drug effects; Chinese ginseng; cycling exercise; Double-Blind Method; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Exercise Test; Humans; Hyperglycemia - prevention & control; Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology; Insulin - blood; insulin secretion; Male; Middle Aged; non-diabetes men; Oxygen Consumption; plasma glucose; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1553-3840; 1553-3840
• DOI: 10.2202/1553-3840.1402

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Panax Notoginseng (PNG) taken for 3 days and one 30-min cycling exercise can reduce postprandial hyperglycemia after ingesting a 75-mg oral glucose solution (OGTT) in untrained non-diabetic men, age 20-45 years. We randomly assigned 52 men to: 1) ginseng (G) + exercise (G+Ex, n=14), 2) ginseng (G, n=13), 3) placebo (C) + exercise (C+Ex, n=12), and 4) placebo control groups (C, n=13). The G and C groups took a daily 3g dose of PNG and cornstarch-placebo supplement for 3 days, respectively. The exercise groups also performed a 30-min cycling exercise on day 3 prior to OGTT. The daily 3g-dose of PNG supplementation significantly lowered postprandial plasma glucose (PG) concentration at 30 min post-OGTT in the G group, compared with C (mean Δ±SE: G vs. C = 26.3±11 mg/dl, p<0.05) and PG area under the curve (PG-AUC0-90) in the G and G+Ex groups, relative to the C (G vs. C = 96.5±42 and G+Ex vs. C = 85.2±41 mg/dl, both p<0.05). We conclude that a daily 3g-dose of PNG taken for 3 days, not one acute bout of 30-min cycling exercise at 60% VO2max, lowered postprandial glycemia at 30-min post-OGTT and PG-AUC 0-90 min in non-diabetic men, age 20-45 years.