Ashwagandha metabolites and gene activity in human fat and muscle tissue
What it found
In lab tests using human fat tissue and muscle cells, sera from people who took ashwagandha for 28 days changed the activity of genes involved in inflammation, antioxidant defence and fuel metabolism.
The changes were measured in tissue and cells, not in the people themselves.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Fat tissue genes
In human fat tissue treated with sera from ashwagandha users, the activity of 15 genes changed. These included genes for inflammation (CCL5, IL6), antioxidant defence (GPX3, GPX4, NFEL2, UCP2) and fat metabolism (CD36, CPT1B, CPT2, FABP4, FASN, ADIPOQ, NAMPT, GSK3A).
Muscle cell genes
In human muscle cells, ashwagandha sera increased SREBF1 activity and decreased FOXO1 activity. There was no effect on inflammation or oxidative stress genes in these cells.
Andrographis effects
In fat tissue, Andrographis sera lowered IL18 and SERPINA3 gene activity. No effects were seen in muscle cells for these genes.
No effect on many genes
Andrographis sera had no effect on the activity of most of the 56 genes measured in fat tissue or muscle cells. Ashwagandha sera also had no effect on several inflammation genes in fat tissue.
What the authors conclude
“Our in vitro findings suggest that ashwagandha supplementation could alter antioxidant defence and inflammatory responses in vivo.”
Also in their conclusions
- They suggest that ashwagandha supplementation could alter antioxidant defence and inflammatory responses in the body.
- Their work also suggests that fuel metabolism may be altered by ashwagandha in the body.
- They recommend that a comprehensive randomised placebo-controlled trial of ashwagandha in people with deteriorating cardiometabolic health should be prioritised.
How it was done
The authors say previous research on ashwagandha and Andrographis used parent plant compounds on cells, which ignores how these compounds are absorbed and broken down in the body. They wanted to test the effects of what actually circulates in the blood after people take these supplements.
Twenty healthy, lean adults took either 1100 mg/day ashwagandha (10 people) or 2000 mg/day Andrographis (10 people) for 28 days. Blood serum collected before and after supplementation was pooled and added to human fat tissue samples and human muscle cells grown in the lab, and the activity of 56 genes was measured.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a lab study using human tissue and cells, so it cannot show what happens inside the body when people take ashwagandha.
- The study used serum from healthy young lean adults, so the results may not apply to people with existing metabolic problems.
- The authors did not identify which circulating metabolites caused the gene changes, so how they work together in the body is not known.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Pukka Herbs (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.
- Authors work at
- University of Exeter, UK
The paper
- Title
- Tissue-Level Effect of Andrographis and Ashwagandha Metabolites on Metabolic and Inflammatory Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Tissue: An Ex Vivo/In Vitro Investigation
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Lugtmeijer C, Bowtell JL, O'Leary M (2024). Tissue-Level Effect of Andrographis and Ashwagandha Metabolites on Metabolic and Inflammatory Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Tissue: An Ex Vivo/In Vitro Investigation. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu16142291Free full textPubMed 39064738DOI
Summary written 29 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error