Physta - Food & Nutrition Research

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Efficacy and safety of Eurycoma longifolia (Physta®) water extract plus multivitamins on quality of life, mood and stress: a randomized placebo-controlled and parallel study Annie George1,2, Jay Udani3, Nurhayati Zainal Abidin1 and Ashril Yusof4* Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Biotropics Malaysia Berhad, Lot 21, Jalan U1/19, Section U1, Hicom-Glenmarie Industrial Park, 40150 Shah Alam, Malaysia; 3Agoura Hills, CA, USA; 4Exercise Science, Sports Centre, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1

Abstract Background: The use of alternative and complementary medicines to alleviate stress has increased to avoid the negative effects of pharmaceutical drugs. Objective: This study investigated the safety and efficacy of Eurycoma longifolia in combination with multivitamins (EL+MV) versus placebo on improving quality of life (QoL), mood and stress in moderately stressed healthy participants. Methods: This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled 24-week study enrolled 93 participants aged 25–65 years, with a body mass index of 18–30 kg/m2, scoring ≤18 in tension and ≤14 in fatigue subscale of ­Profiles of Mood Scores (POMS) questionnaire and supplemented with EL+MV or placebo. The primary endpoints were QoL measured by 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) questionnaire and mood measured by POMS. The secondary endpoint was stress measured by Multi-Modal Stress Questionnaire (MMSQ). The safety of the intervention product was measured by complete metabolic panel, lipid and renal analysis including several immune parameters. Results: While there were no significant between-group differences, within-group improvements were o ­ bserved in the SF-12 QoL, POMS and MMSQ domains. In the SF-12 domain, improvements were seen in role limitation due to emotional health (P  =  0.05), mental component domain (P