Far North Science

Rhodiola grows in the Arctic

They call it Golden Root, a delicate yellow flower from mountain slopes in the European and Asian Arctic that has a storied reputation for boosting mood during the long dark of Siberian winters.

But the mysterious Rhodiola rosea may actually pack for more punch in its pharmacological fist.

A new study from the University of California at Irvine found Rhodiola increased the lifespan of fruit flies, suggesting that this Far North herb prized by Chinese traditional medicine might make people live longer too.

“Flies that ate a diet rich with Rhodiola rosea, an herbal supplement long used for its purported stress-relief effects, lived on an average of 10 percent longer than fly groups that didn’t eat the herb,” states an on-line story published by UCI this week.

Rhodiola: A Promising Anti-Aging Chinese Herb was published this week in the online version of Rejuvenation Research.

In the paper abstract, the authors explained that a 30 mg/mL does of the herbal extract, supplied every other day, boosted the lifespan of that old laboratory workhorse, Drosophila melanogaster, by about 10 percent.

Controlling for reduced caloric intake — which has also shown to dramatically extend the lives of these fruit flies — didn’t cancel out the boost by Rhodiola. The herb really did seem to help the flies outlive their brethren, they wrote.

Here’s more detail from UCI’s story:

“Although this study does not present clinical evidence that Rhodiola can extend human life, the finding that it does extend the lifespan of a model organism, combined with its known health benefits in humans, make this herb a promising candidate for further anti-aging research,” said Mahtab Jafari, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences and study leader. “Our results reveal that Rhodiola is worthy of continued study, and we are now investigating why this herb works to increase lifespan.”

Mahtab Jafari at UCI

In their study, the UC Irvine researchers fed adult fruit fly populations diets supplemented at different dose levels with four herbs known for their anti-aging properties. The herbs were mixed into a yeast paste, which adult flies ate for the duration of their lives.

Three of the herbs &151; known by their Chinese names as Lu Duo Wei, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang and San Zhi Pian — had no effect on fruit fly longevity, while Rhodiola was found to significantly reduce mortality. On average, Rhodiola increased survival 3.5 days in males and 3.2 days in females.

Rhodiola rosea, also known as the golden root, grows in cold climates at high altitudes and has been used by Scandinavians and Russians for centuries for its anti-stress qualities. The herb is thought to have anti-oxidative properties and has been widely studied.

Soviet researchers have been studying Rhodiola since the 1940s on athletes and cosmonauts, finding that the herb boosts the body’s response to stress.

And earlier this year, a Nordic Journal of Psychiatry study on people with mild-to-moderate depression showed that patients taking a Rhodiola extract called SHR-5 reported fewer symptoms of depression than did those who took a placebo.

Jafari said she is evaluating the molecular mechanism of Rhodiola by measuring its impact on energy metabolism, oxidative stress and anti-oxidant defenses in fruit flies. She is also beginning studies in mice and in mouse and human cell cultures. These latter studies should help understand the benefits of Rhodiola seen in human trials.