Article

Daily fatigue-reducing effect of astaxanthin - A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group study

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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effects of astaxanthin on the sense of fatigue occurring in daily life and to investigate the relationship of the fatigue-reducing effect with the antioxidative potential. Method: A 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was conducted. After screening for eligibility, 39 subjects with fatigue were assigned to 2 groups. The astaxanthin group received 12 mg of astaxanthin and 20 mg of tocotrienol, while the control group received 20 mg of tocotrienol alone. All subjects took Uchida-Kraepelin performance tests as mental loading and cycled using a bicycle ergometer as physical loading in Weeks 0, 4 and 8. A visual analog scale (VAS) of perceived fatigue was performed before and after loading. In Weeks 0 and 8, a Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire was performed. The biological antioxidant potential (BAP) was measured with blood samples taken at the screening and in Week 12. Results: Thirty-eight subjects completed the study. Intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis revealed that the sense of fatigue after both physical and mental loading was significantly lower in the astaxanthin group than in the control group in Week 8. The change in Friendliness in POMS was significantly higher in the astaxanthin group than in the control group in Week 8. No significant differences were observed in the change rate in the BAP value in Week 12 between the astaxanthin group and control group. Conclusion: Astaxanthin reduced the daily sense of fatigue caused by both mental and physical loads. No increase in BAP was, however, observed in subjects receiving astaxanthin.

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... The effect of the combination of 12 mg astaxanthin/day and 20 mg tocotrienol/day on daily fatigue was examined using the POMS questionnaire, and results showed that the astaxanthin group showed significant improvement in the Friendliness factor of POMS compared with the placebo group. (14) Moreover, astaxanthin and sesamin were provided to volunteers to evaluate the effect of the combination on mental fatigue, and the visual analogue scale of mental fatigue in people who took the combination decreased more significantly than that in people who took the placebo. (15) Hence, various functional foods have been investigated for their usefulness in reducing stress. ...
... In previous studies with astaxanthin, a dose of 12 mg astaxanthin/ day was administered to subjects for 8 weeks, and the Friendliness factor in POMS was observed to improve in the astaxanthin group. (14) Because the administration period of this study was 8 weeks, which is similar to that used in a previous study, we also used the same dosage of 12 mg astaxanthin/day in this investigation. All subjects were requested to ingest three jellies of their respective supplement preparations after breakfast and again after dinner for 8 weeks, for a total of six jellies (12 mg of astaxanthin or placebo) per day. ...
... Sample size. We estimated the sample size based on "F" of POMS 2 from the data presented by Hongo et al. (14) It was assumed that the mean difference would be 1.6, with a standard deviation (SD) of 4.4. To detect this difference, with a power of 80% and a significance level of 5% and taking into account that 10% of the patients will be lost to follow-up, it was calculated that 30 subjects would be needed to be studied in each group. ...
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... According to the reports, astaxanthin consumption improved the cognitive function and made faster maze learning and reaction times in Cog-Health. Hongo (2017) also investigated the administration of 12 mg/day astaxanthin with 20 mg of tocotrienol for 12 weeks by 39 fatigued volunteers in a randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. The authors reported that astaxanthin lowered the sense of fatigue in physical and mental loads. ...
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... Several studies have tested the effects of astaxanthin or sesame lignan separately on fatigue. Hongo et al., reported that astaxanthin reduced daily fatigue stemming from mental and physical causes [17]. Takemoto et al., evaluated the effects of supplements including sesame lignans and vitamin E on subjective outcomes such as fatigue, sleep and physical appearance [18]. ...
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