Beyond weight management: Latest research on Gencor’s ActivAMP finds sports benefits

31 Jan 2024 --- Gencor has shared clinical trial outcomes, revealing that ActivAMP — the company’s branded Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract — improves aerobic athletic performance by 4%. While previous research supported the ingredient’s benefits in weight management, the latest study points to a new application area of the extract.

The clinical trial also examples a proposed mechanism of action whereby activating the enzyme AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) helps promote energy availability for muscular contraction. Preclinical research revealed that the ingredient improved glucose uptake in muscle tissue and promoted fat utilization as energy. 

“We here at Gencor hope that the latest ActivAMP study relating to aerobic performance will help to serve as a source of substantiation for formulators and product development scientists considering including this innovative G. pentaphyllum extract in their next sports nutrition product,” Christopher Bailey, Ph.D., director of scientific affairs at Gencor, tells Nutrition Insight. 

“Gencor will leverage the outcomes of the latest clinical trial on ActivAMP to expand the intended applications of the extract beyond weight management into the sports nutrition and active lifestyle segments of the dietary supplement market.” 

Aerobic versus anaerobic performance 
In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 16 healthy, untrained men consumed either 450 mg of G. pentaphyllum dried leaf extract or a placebo daily for four weeks. After a four-week wash-out, they switched to the other alternative not used in the first trial. The researchers collected muscle, plasma and serum samples. 

After consuming the supplement, participants improved their time trial performance — completing a 20 km race on a cycle ergometer 4% faster than when consuming the placebo. 

Moreover, muscle biopsies revealed a greater oxygen flux in muscle tissue at rest compared to the placebo. The researchers note that this corresponded to an improved mitochondrial respiration — a process of energy conversion of substrates into adenosine triphosphate. This compound fuels cellular activities and processes, including muscle contraction. 

ActivAMP supplementation also increased the activation of AMPK after exercise. The participants also had significantly lower leptin and blood glucose levels. 

“The latest study on ActivAMP responds to a largely underdeveloped portion of the sports nutrition ingredient market — ingredients designed around aerobic performance rather than purely anaerobic performance,” underscores Bailey. 

“Earlier research published in 2021 found that the same daily amount of just 450 mg of ActivAMP demonstrated support for the extract’s ability to support a healthy body weight.” 

Metabolic health  
Published in Nutrients, the study is the first to demonstrate the benefits of supplementing G. pentaphyllum on exercise performance and the indicated mechanism of action. The authors note that its results add to previous research, which suggested the extract’s “impact on skeletal muscle as a possible key site of action” in weight management. 

“The AMPK activation, also known as the ‘master metabolic regulator,’ is a significant finding in this study,” comments R.V. Venkatesh, co-founder and managing director at Gencor. “This increase in phosphorylation elaborates on previous research that shows improvements in metabolic health and exercise performance.” 

“This is also the first study conducted in the nutraceutical industry to demonstrate the activation of AMPK in a human trial through muscle biopsy. We are thrilled with the study results and will continue investigating how this botanical can further support sports and active nutrition.”

As the study had several limitations — only including healthy men, intervention length, when muscle and blood samples were collected, type of exercise and supplement dosage — the authors underscore the need for future studies to understand further the effects of the extract in both healthy individuals and people with obesity or diabetes. 

By Jolanda van Hal