Obesity is a growing global health concern, and finding effective and safe interventions is crucial. Traditional treatments for obesity, especially those derived from natural compounds, offer great promise in managing this complex condition. Actiponin®, an extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (G. pentaphyllum), presents a novel and natural approach to weight loss, supported by clinical studies demonstrating its efficacy and safety.
What is Actiponin®?
Actiponin® is a revitalizing botanical supplement designed to encourage the body to burn fat, particularly in the abdominal area. This patented extract is derived from Gynostemma pentaphyllum, a five-leafed perennial plant widely used for over five centuries as an herbal tea in Korea, China, and Japan. Traditionally, G. pentaphyllum has been used to regulate blood pressure, lower cholesterol, modulate inflammation, improve endurance, and increase longevity.
Actiponin® is an ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum. The therapeutic properties of Gynostemma pentaphyllum are proposed to be related to activation of AMP‐kinase, and there is a growing body of evidence to support its use in weight loss.
How Actiponin® Works: Activating AMPK
Actiponin® works by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a crucial intracellular sensor and regulator of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism throughout the body. AMPK activation is like flipping a metabolic switch, turning on pathways that burn energy and turning off pathways that store it.
When activated, AMPK stimulates catabolic ATP-generating pathways such as:
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- Fatty acid β-oxidation: The breakdown of fats for energy.
- Glycolysis: The breakdown of glucose for energy.
- Glucose uptake: Increased absorption of glucose from the blood into cells.
Simultaneously, AMPK inhibits anabolic ATP-consuming pathways, including:
- Fatty acid synthesis: The creation of new fat.
- Cholesterol synthesis: The production of cholesterol.
This dual action promotes fat burning and reduces fat storage, mimicking the metabolic effects of exercise and calorie restriction. Studies have demonstrated that AMPK activation improves obesity and type-2 diabetes by stimulating fatty acid β-oxidation, glycolysis, and glucose uptake while simultaneously inhibiting the synthesis of fat and cholesterol in the liver. As such, AMPK activators like Actiponin® show immense promise as healthy solutions to obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, a condition that increases the chance of heart attacks and strokes.
Clinical Evidence: Actiponin® and Weight Loss
Several studies have investigated the effects of Actiponin® on weight loss and metabolic health.
Reduction in Body Fat and Weight
In clinical trials, Actiponin® reduced body fat mass, body weight, and abdominal fat in overweight people over a 12-week period.
One study enlisted 80 overweight people with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30 kg/m2. Volunteers were randomly assigned to receive 450 mg a day of the patented G. pentaphyllum extract or a placebo. During 12-week of actiponin supplementation, total abdominal fat area, body weight, body fat mass, percent body fat, and BMI were significantly decreased (P = 0.044, P < 0.05, P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, and P < 0.05, respectively) in the actiponin group compared to the placebo group. Our study revealed that actiponin is a potent antiobesity reagent that does not produce any significant adverse effects.
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Sixteen-Week Trial Results
One‐hundred and seventeen men and women aged over 18 years completed 16 weeks of daily supplementation with either Gpp or a placebo. Following 16 weeks of treatment, the Gpp group had a significant reduction in total body weight, body mass index, total fat mass and gynoid fat mass compared to the placebo group. The results of this double‐blind randomised placebo‐controlled trial in overweight men and women indicate that supplementation with G. pentaphyllum represents a potential treatment for obesity management that can complement lifestyle modifications such as exercise and diet restriction. and the growing body of evidence that G. provide a rationale for developing this traditional remedy as a public health tool in the management of overweight and obesity. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of a commercially available capsule‐form herbal supplement containing G.
Korean Study
A study was conducted to investigate the effects of actiponin, a heat-processed Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract, on body weight, fat loss, and metabolic markers in Korean participants. The study was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The participants were divided into two groups: the actiponin group and the placebo group. The results of the study showed that the actiponin group had significant reductions in body weight, body fat mass, and abdominal fat area compared to the placebo group. The actiponin group also had significant improvements in HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The researchers concluded that actiponin is an effective and safe weight loss supplement. It can help to reduce body weight, body fat mass, and abdominal fat area.
Gender-Specific Fat Reduction
Subgroup analysis of gender for android, gynoid and visceral adiposity showed males in the Gpp group had a significant reduction in visceral fat compared to males in the placebo group (−109 vs. 12 g; p < 0.05). Females in the Gpp group had a significant reduction in gynoid fat compared to the placebo group (−107 vs. 95 g; p < 0.05).
Study Design Considerations
A double‐blind, randomised, clinical trial with a treatment duration of 16 weeks, including ActivAMP®, a commercially available capsule‐form herbal supplement containing G. pentaphyllum ([Gpp], supplied by BTC Corporation, Korea) and placebo groups. Participants who met the preliminary screening criteria via a telephone interview underwent full screening against the inclusion and exclusion criteria (detailed below), which included collecting lifestyle, current medications and medical history. Following enrollment, participants completed baseline measures, which included body composition (height, weight, hip and waist circumference), dietary intake and quality of life. During the 16‐week intervention trial, participants were required to attend the study clinic at weeks 5 and 10 for anthropometry assessment and to complete questionnaires. Every 2-3 weeks, participants completed 24‐h diet recalls via online diaries and through telephone interviews conducted by a trial investigator. Participants were asked to maintain their usual level of physical activity and dietary intake for the study duration. At the end of the study, participants repeated the same exercise and diet diaries. If participants knowingly changed their normal level of physical activity or diet, they were asked to inform a trial investigator as soon as practically possible. Changes in diet and/or exercise were evaluated by a dietitian and accredited exercise physiologist respectively. Any changes to diet or exercise were taken into consideration when evaluating any results of the trial.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
All study participants were recruited from Brisbane and surrounding areas from databases and public media outlets. ). Other inclusion criteria included not currently taking any supplements or functional foods targeted at weight loss, muscle growth or exercise performance, agreeing to not use other treatments including diets for weight loss, muscle growth or exercise performance during the study, and having the ability and willingness to participate in the study and adhere to the investigation schedule. Only females currently using an appropriate form of birth control (e.g. oral contraceptive pill) were included in the study. Participants were excluded from the study if they had any clinically significant medical condition that was uncontrolled, including, but not limited to, cardiovascular, neurological, psychiatric, renal, gastrointestinal, immunological, endocrine (including uncontrolled diabetes or thyroid disease) or haematological abnormalities. Participants were also excluded if they used prescription medication (other than the oral contraceptive pill), had significant variation in weight (more than 10%) in the past 3 months, participated in another clinical trial in the past 3 months, were allergic or hypersensitive to any of the test ingredients, consumed alcohol above two standard drinks daily, used recreational drugs or had other confounding conditions as assessed by trial investigators. Females with a clinical diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome, attempting conception or were currently pregnant or breast‐feeding were excluded from the study.
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Dosage and Administration
Participants consumed 450 mg of either Gpp or a placebo with water across two capsules (225 mg per capsule) daily, one taken at breakfast and one taken at dinner for a period of 16 weeks. This regime was selected on the basis of current standard dosing guidelines for the investigational product. The primary outcome was total body fat as measured by a DXA scan. Accounting for an α error probability of 0.05 and powered to 0.95 for a 5% change in body composition (from baseline values; DXA; effect size d = 0.72), using the mean (30% body fat) and SD values (±5.5%) obtained from similar published studies, group sizes of at least 42 were required.
Data Analysis
Data were analysed with R (R Foundation for Statistical Computing), using a range of native statistical functions and functions from the packages tidyverse, rcompanion, dplyr and ggplot. Shapiro-Wilks tested for normality of distribution, tests of significance were performed both parametrically and non‐parametrically. Some variables have a log‐normal distribution and were logN transformed for t test analysis. The trial was conducted in compliance with the current International Conference on Harmonization Guideline for Good Clinical Practice. Of the 150 participants enrolled in the study, 117 completed the study (60 for Gpp and 57 for placebo) (Figure 1). Of the 117 completed participants, full sets of DXA results were collected for 104 participants (n = 52 per group) and full sets of blood results were collected for 104 participants (56 for Gpp and 48 for placebo). Body composition data. Body weight and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (52 participants per group).
Observed Outcomes
After 16 weeks of treatment, the Gpp group had a significant reduction in total body weight, BMI, total fat mass and gynoid fat mass compared to the placebo group (p < 0.05) (Figure 1 and Table 2). Percentage fat mass decreased (1.2%) in the Gpp group, which was trending toward significance (p = 0.08). There was no difference between groups for any of the blood markers at baseline. There was no significant difference at baseline or week 16 for the SF‐36 health questionnaire between groups. The results indicated that all participants had good general health. Throughout the study, there was no change to any participants exercise or diet habit.
Additional Benefits: Anti-inflammatory Effects
Additional observations from the present study included significant reductions in TNF‐α concentrations, which would be expected to confer an anti‐inflammatory effect. Reducing the amount of adipose tissue would therefore be expected to lower TNF‐α production. However, the present study was not designed to discriminate between the primary anti‐inflammatory effects induced by the polyphenol constituents of the Gpp and the secondary effects attributable to the reduction of adipose tissue. together with its anti‐inflammatory effect, should be reviewed in this context. This data set, together with our findings, suggests that Gpp will be a useful adjunct to physical exercise in the clinical management of NAFLD.
Safety Profile
Almost no anti-obesity drugs have been approved for long-term use by the US Food and Drug Administration. Drugs like orlistat (i.e. Xenical) reduce the absorption of fat in the intestines by inhibiting lipase, a pancreatic enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of fats, while drugs like sibutramine (i.e. Meridia) suppress the appetite by blocking the re-uptake of certain neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin), though in 2010 Meridia was withdrawn from the markets in the United States and Canada because clinical studies revealed that it increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. Because they so often cause adverse side effects, anti-obesity drugs are generally prescribed only when the benefits of the treatment definitively outweigh the hazards.
Proven to be both safe and effective, Actiponin® offers a novel-and natural-approach to weight loss. Actiponin® has demonstrated a good safety profile in clinical trials, with no significant adverse effects reported. This makes it an attractive alternative to some pharmaceutical weight loss drugs, which can have undesirable side effects.