Effect of Food Containing Paramylon Derived from Euglena gracilis EOD-1 on Fatigue in Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Trial.

Takanori Kawano,Machiko Nishioka,Tomohiro Sugino,Junko Naito,Shinichi Kashiwagi,Madoka Takahashi,Norihisa Nishida,Yasuyoshi Watanabe

doi:10.3390/nu12103098

Abstract

Euglena gracilis EOD-1, a kind of microalgae, is known to contain a high proportion of paramylon, a type of β-1,3-glucan. Paramylon derived from E. gracilis EOD-1 is presumed to suppress cellular oxidative injury and expected to reduce fatigue and fatigue sensation. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether food containing paramylon derived from E. gracilis EOD-1 (EOD-1PM) ingestion reduced fatigue and fatigue sensation in healthy adults. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparison study in 66 healthy men and women who ingested a placebo or EOD-1PM daily for 4 weeks (daily life fatigue). Furthermore, at the examination days of 0 and 4 weeks, tolerance to fatigue load was evaluated using mental tasks (task-induced fatigue). We evaluated fatigue sensation using the Visual Analogue Scale, the work efficiency of the advanced trail making test and measured serum antioxidant markers. The EOD-1PM group showed significantly lower levels of physical and mental fatigue sensations and higher levels of work efficiency as well as serum biological antioxidant potential levels than the placebo group. These results indicate that EOD-1PM ingestion reduced fatigue and fatigue sensation, which may be due to an increase in antioxidant potential and maintenance of selective attention during work.

Highlights

Fatigue is a physiological alarm that reminds an organism of the need to rest to prevent exhaustion from overworking
The following three subjects were excluded from the analysis: (1) one subject who voluntarily withdrew from the trial for personal reasons, (2) one subject whose participation was discontinued at the discretion of the principal investigator after developing a chronic migraine during fatigue loading on the examination day at 0 weeks (ED0W), and (3) one subject whose participation was discontinued at the discretion of the principal investigator after vomiting during fatigue loading on the ED0W (The subject did not receive the test food at all)
52 subjects, after further excluding one subject whose participation was discontinued at the discretion of the principal investigator due to symptoms such as vertigo and nausea upon arrival to the facility on the ED4W and 10 subjects who were deemed by the principal investigator to be ineligible for analysis, were included in the per protocol set (PPS) for efficacy analysis

Summary

Introduction

Fatigue is a physiological alarm that reminds an organism of the need to rest to prevent exhaustion from overworking. Fatigue is a considerably familiar phenomenon in daily activities, such as work, exercise, creativity, and mental activity, and is essential for health maintenance. In 2011, the Japanese Society of Fatigue Science defined fatigue and fatigue sensation as follows: Fatigue is a decline in the ability and efficiency of mental and/or physical activities that is caused by excessive mental or physical activities or disease. Fatigue is often accompanied by a peculiar sense of discomfort, a desire to rest, and a decline in motivation, which is referred to as fatigue sensation [2,3]. The subjective feeling of fatigue as a phenomenon that

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