The term adaptogen was coined in 1947 by Soviet pharmacologist Nikolai Lazarev, and later operationalised by his colleague Israel Brekhman through a set of three proposed criteria: a substance must be non-toxic at normal doses, must produce a non-specific response, and must tend to normalise physiological function regardless of the direction of the stressor. Those criteria were influential in mid-20th-century Soviet military and sports medicine research, and the word entered broader botanical literature from there. Lazarev's original 1947 pharmacological framing was descriptive rather than regulatory, and that ambiguity has shaped debates about the term ever since.
Plants most frequently discussed under this classification in the peer-reviewed literature include Withania somnifera (ashwagandha), Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng), Panax ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, and Schisandra chinensis. Each has a distinct phytochemical profile , withanolides, eleutherosides, ginsenosides, rosavins and salidroside, and schisandrin lignans, respectively , which means the category is pharmacologically heterogeneous. Grouping them under one label is a classificatory convenience, not a claim of shared mechanism.
In Australia, the term adaptogen has no formal standing in the Poisons Standard (SUSMP) and is not a registered therapeutic category under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Products sold with adaptogen-related wording on Australian shelves must comply with TGA requirements for listed (AUST L) or registered (AUST R) goods, and any label or marketing claims must fall within the permitted indications for complementary medicines. Broad claims that a substance "adapts" the body to stress or supports adrenal function require substantiation under TGA guidelines and cannot be made simply on the basis of the ethnobotanical or historical literature.
Researchers continue to investigate proposed mechanisms at a molecular level, including modulation of heat-shock proteins (Hsp70, Hsp90), interaction with glucocorticoid receptor signalling, and effects on nitric oxide pathways. As of the most recent systematic reviews, the quality of clinical evidence varies substantially between individual plant species, and most researchers note that study heterogeneity, small sample sizes, and variable extract standardisation limit firm conclusions. The term remains in active use as a research-classification device rather than a settled pharmacological category.
Sources:
- Panossian A & Wikman G, "Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress-Protective Activity" , Pharmaceuticals, NCBI/NIH
- Evidence Guidelines: Evidence to Support Indications for Listed Complementary Medicines; Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
- Ulbricht C et al., "An Evidence-Based Systematic Review of Adaptogens", Natural Standard Research Collaboration, NCBI/NIH