Acteoside could be another potentially great compound in the management of POIS. Its best source is probably
Cistanche, which has been already mentioned on the site as a testosterone booster. Unfortunately nobody has yet reported about it, which could be the cause of low interest.
Acteoside (Cistanche) appears to be one of the slower acting compounds that need some time to begin to work well. At least it appears to have a smoother effect with fewer side-effects compared to some of the more potent testosterone boosters like tongkat ali.
If one finds Cistanche too expensive or unavailable, then as an alternative solution a combination of some other herbs with the same constituent could be tried. Echinacea is a source of echinacosides, while
acteoside which is also called verbascoside or kusagin can be found in a number of commercially available herbs:
mullein, common verbena, lemon verbena, white dead-nettle (not stinging nettle!), ribwort plantain and Rehmannia. Of course this means that these herbs could be considered as testosterone boosters as well.
According to the Chinese Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Dictionary, it supplements renal function, increases sexual power, and smoothes the intestines.
Sinphar Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Peking University have also discovered that the extract has activities to improve brain functions, prevent aging or fatigue, and boost immune strength from test data accumulated in their long-term study. The main effective ingredients of Cistanche Tubulosa extract are phenylethanoid glycosides, especially echinacoside and acteoside. Although echinacoside is known as the main component of the herb Echinacea, Cistanche Tubulosa contains a higher amount of echinacoside than any other plant. Acteoside (a type of polyphenols) has an extremely strong antioxidative property which is reported to be 15 times stronger than resveratrol (polyphenols contained in grapes) and 5 times stronger than vitamin C. In recent study, new compounds (kankanoside and others) have been isolated and vasorelaxing activity has been reported as a pharmacological action of the new compounds, echinacoside, and acteoside.
Cistanche salsa extract (fraction where phenylethanoid glycosides are the main components) and its components echinacoside and acteoside have been reported to have an activity to improve sexual ability. Cistanche Tubulosa is expected to perform a similar activity because it belongs to the same family as Cistanche salsa and contains larger amounts of effective components.
In the specimen from the Cistanche Tubulosa extract administration group, the expression of 3B-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3B-HSD), which is involved in testosterone, was enhanced by 1.5 times. The expression of the genes of steroid 5a-reductase 2 and aldo-keto reductase, which the synthesis of dihydrotestosterone, doubled.http://www.oryza.co.jp/html/english/pdf/Cistanche%20tubulosa%20ver1.0.pdf
