10 research outputs found
A placebo-controlled trial of Korean red ginseng extract for preventing Influenza-like illness in healthy adults
<p>Abstracts</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Standardized Korean red ginseng extract has become the best-selling influenza-like illness (ILI) remedy in Korea, yet much controversy regarding the efficacy of the Korean red ginseng (KRG) in reducing ILI incidence remains. The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of the KRG extract on the ILI incidence in healthy adults.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We will conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study at the onset of the influenza seasons. A total of 100 subjects 30-70 years of age will be recruited from the general populations. The subjects will be instructed to take 9 capsules per day of either the KRG extract or a placebo for a period of 3 months. The primary outcome measure is to assess the frequency of ILI onset in participated subjects. Secondary variable measures will be included severity and duration of ILI symptoms. The ILI symptoms will be scored by subjects using a 4-point scale.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study is a randomized placebo controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the KRG extract compared to placebo and will be provided valuable new information about the clinical and physiological effects of the KRG extract on reduction of ILI incidence including flu and upper respiratory tract infections. The study has been pragmatically designed to ensure that the study findings can be implemented into clinical practice if KRG extract can be shown to be an effective reduction strategy in ILI incidence.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01478009">NCT01478009</a>.</p
Effects of Lactobacillus casei Shirota ingestion on common cold infection and herpes virus antibodies in endurance athletes: a placebo-controlled, randomized trial
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the
Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Aims To assess evidence of health and immune benefit by
consumption of a Lactobacillus casei Shirota probiotic in
highly physically active people.
Methods Single-centre, population-based, randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Daily ingestion of
probiotic (PRO) or placebo (PLA) for 20 weeks for n = 243
(126 PRO, 117 PLA) university athletes and games players.
Subjects completed validated questionnaires on upper respiratory
tract infection symptoms (URS) on a daily basis
and on physical activity status at weekly intervals during
the intervention period. Blood samples were collected
before and after 20 weeks of the intervention for determination
of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus
(CMV) serostatus and antibody levels.
Results URS episode incidence was unexpectedly low
(mean 0.6 per individual) and was not significantly different
on PRO compared with PLA. URS episode duration
and severity were also not influenced by PRO. A significant
time × group interaction effect was observed for plasma
CMV antibody titres in CMV seropositive participants
(p < 0.01) with antibody titre falling in the PRO group
but remaining unchanged in the PLA group over time. A
similar effect was found for plasma EBV antibody titres in
EBV seropositive participants (p < 0.01) with antibody titre
falling in the PRO group but increasing in the PLA group
over time. Conclusions In summary, regular ingestion of PRO did not
reduce URS episode incidence which might be attributable
to the low URS incidence in this study. Regular ingestion
of PRO reduced plasma CMV and EBV antibody titres, an
effect that can be interpreted as a benefit to overall immune
status