Hawthorn is a shrubs and trees of the genus Crataegus, belonging to the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The herb has been used in traditional medicine to treat heart disease and symptoms of heart diseases such as irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, chest pain, hardening of the arteries, etc., circulatory disorders and respiratory illnesses.
Heath benefits
1. Hypotensive effects
In the investigation of Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) leaves, flowers and berries used by herbal practitioners in the UK to treat hypertension in conjunction with prescribed drugs indicated that this is the first randomised controlled trial to demonstrate a hypotensive effect of hawthorn in patients with diabetes takin, according to "Hypotensive effects of hawthorn for patients with diabetes taking prescription drugs: a randomised controlled trial" by Walker AF, Marakis G, Simpson E, Hope JL, Robinson PA, Hassanein M, Simpson HC(1)
2. Cardiac effects
In the evaluation of the potential cardiac effects of two alcohol extracts of commercially available hawthorn found that the mechanism of cardiac activity of hawthorn is via the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and intracellular calcium concentrations are influenced, according to "A comparison of the effects of commercially available hawthorn preparations on calcium transients of isolated cardiomyocytes" by Rodriguez ME, Poindexter BJ, Bick RJ, Dasgupta A.(2)
3. Cardiovascular disease
In the analyzing the effect of hawthorn in prevention and protection of cardiovascular disease indicated that these beneficial effects may in part be due to the presence of antioxidant flavonoid components. While a number of studies have been performed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of hawthorn, an international, multicenter, prospective clinical study including a large number of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II/III heart failure patients is ongoing to test hawthorn's long-term therapeutic effects, according to "Hawthorn: potential roles in cardiovascular disease"by Chang WT, Dao J, Shao ZH.(3)
4. Chronic heart failure
In the assessment of Hawthorn extract usedas an oral treatment option for chronic heart failure, found that Ten trials including 855 patients with chronic heart failure (New York Heart Association classes I to III) provided data that were suitable for meta-analysis. For the physiologic outcome of maximal workload, treatment with hawthorn extract was more beneficial than placebo (WMD (Watt) 5.35, 95% CI 0.71 to 10.00, P < 0.02, n = 380). Exercise tolerance were significantly increased by hawthorn extract (WMD (Watt x min) 122.76, 95% CI 32.74 to 212.78, n = 98). The pressure-heart rate product, an index of cardiac oxygen consumption, also showed a beneficial decrease with hawthorn treatment (WMD (mmHg/min) -19.22, 95% CI -30.46 to -7.98, n = 264). Symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue improved significantly with hawthorn treatment as compared with placebo (WMD -5.47, 95% CI -8.68 to -2.26, n = 239), according to "Hawthorn extract for treating chronic heart failure" by Pittler MH, Guo R, Ernst E.(4)
5. Hyperlipemia
in the determination of The Yishoujiangzhi (de-blood-lipid) tablets (composed of Radix Polygori Multiflori, Rhizoma Polygonati, Fructus Lycii, Crataegus Pinnatifida and Cassia Tora) and its effect on Hyperlipemia found that in the treatment of 130 cases of hyperlipemia, achieving an effective rate of 87.0% in lowering serum cholesterol and 80.8% in lowering triglyceride, according to 'Yishou jiangzhi (de-blood-lipid) tablets in the treatment of hyperlipemia" by Guan Y, Zhao S.(5)
6. Endothelial hyperpermeability
In the identification of the hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) extract WS® 1442 and its effect on Endothelial hyperpermeability followed by edema formation Endothelial hyperpermeability indicated that WS® 1442 effectively protects against endothelial barrier dysfunction in vitro and in vivo. It specifically interacts with endothelial permeability-regulating systems by blocking the Ca(2+)/PKC/RhoA and activating the cAMP/Epac1/Rap1 pathway. As a proven safe herbal drug, WS® 1442 opens a novel pharmacological approach to treat hyperpermeability-associated diseases. This in-depth mechanistic work contributes to a better acceptance of this herbal remedy, according to "A novel approach to prevent endothelial hyperpermeability: The Crataegus extract WS® 1442 targets the cAMP/Rap1 pathway" by Bubik MF, Willer EA, Bihari P, Jürgenliemk G, Ammer H, Krombach F, Zahler S, Vollmar AM, Fürst R(6)
7. Neuroprotective effects
In the investigation of the neuroprotective effects on PC12 cells from the methanol extracts of Spatholobus suberectus, Uncaria rhynchophylla, Alpinia officinarum, Drynaria fortunei, and Crataegus pinnatifida found that The CPE, SSE, and URE presented neurogrowth effects and neuroprotective activities on H(2)O(2)-induced PC12 cell death at 0.5-5.0 μg/mL. The CPE represents a promising medicinal plant source for the treatment of H(2)O(2)-induced neurodegenerative disease, because of its useful phytochemical characteristic, according to "Phytochemical characteristics, free radical scavenging activities, and neuroprotection of five medicinal plant extracts" by Chang CL, Lin CS, Lai GH.(7)
8. Immunomodulatory effect
In the determination of sheds more light on the extract's mechanism of neuroprotection, especially its immunomodulatory effect found that Hawthorn extract helped alleviate pro-inflammatory immune responses associated with I/R-induced injury, boosted IL-10 levels, and increased Foxp3-positive T(regs) in the brain, which may have aided in suppression of activated inflammatory cells. Such treatment also minimizes apoptotic cell death by influencing STAT-3 phosphorylation and Bcl-xL expression in the brain. Taken together, the immunomodulatory effect of Hawthorn extract may play a critical role in the neuroprotection observed in this MCAO-induced stroke model, according to "Immunomodulatory effect of Hawthorn extract in an experimental stroke model" by Elango C, Devaraj SN.(8)
9. Antithrombotic effects
in the investigation of Antithrombotic function of ethanol extract of Crataegus orientalis (COE) leaves found that 200 mg/kg COE lost its significance and there was a decrease in the significance values of 300 mg/kg COE (p<0.05) at 48 and 72 h. From these results, it was concluded that COE significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced mice tail thrombosis in vivo, according to "Antithrombotic effects of ethanol extract of Crataegus orientalis in the carrageenan-induced mice tail thrombosis model" by Arslan R, Bor Z, Bektas N, Meriçli AH, Ozturk Y.(9)
10. Anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective and antimicrobial activities
In the observation of the effect of hawthorn berries ethanol extract and its free-radical-scavenging, anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective, and antimicrobial activities found that Oral administration of investigated extract caused dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in a model of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The obtained anti-inflammatory effect was 20.8, 23.0, and 36.3% for the extract doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively. In comparison to indomethacin, given in a dose producing 50% reduction of rat paw edema, the extract given in the highest tested dose (200 mg/kg) showed 72.4% of its activity. Gastroprotective activity of the extract was investigated using an ethanol-induced acute stress ulcer in rats with ranitidine as a reference drug. Hawthorn extract produced dose-dependent gastroprotective activity (3.8 +/- 2.1, 1.9 +/- 1.7, and 0.7 +/- 0.5 for doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively), with the efficacy comparable to that of the reference drug. Antimicrobial testing of the extract revealed its moderate bactericidal activity, especially against gram-positive bacteria, according to "Anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective, free-radical-scavenging, and antimicrobial activities of hawthorn berries ethanol extract" by Tadić VM, Dobrić S, Marković GM, Dordević SM, Arsić IA, Menković NR, Stević T.(10)
11. Prevention and treatment of cataracts
In the evaluation of the anticataract potential of Crataegus pinnatifida (hawthorn tree) leaves and its extract in selenite-induced cataract in vivo and antioxidant effects in vitro, found that administration of C. pinnatifida leaves extract eye drops alternately three times a day in rat pups with selenite-induced oxidative stress significantly increased serum SOD and CAT activities, and tended to reduce MDA level compared with control group. The antioxidant enzyme SOD, CAT, and GSH activities in lens showed a significant increase. These results may be applied in the future for the prevention and treatment of cataracts, according to "Prevention effect in selenite-induced cataract in vivo and antioxidative effects in vitro of Crataegus pinnatifida leaves" by Wang T, Zhang P, Zhao C, Zhang Y, Liu H, Hu L, Gao X, Zhang D.(11)
12. Antiplasmodial activity
In the research of 4 oligomeric procyanidins of Chinese hawthorn, such as epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin (1), epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→6)-epicatechin (2), epicatechin-(4β→6)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin (3), and epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8)-epicatechin-(4β→8) (4),and theirs antiplasmodial activity and their cytotoxic potential on SK-OV-3 cancer cell lineseffects found that three procyanidins showed notable growth inhibitory activity against chloroquine-sensitive strains of P. falciparum with IC(50) values of 2.7 μM (SI values of >55.5). The compounds showed no significant cytotoxicity (IC(50) > 150 μM) toward the SK-OV-3 cancer cell line, according to "Antiplasmodial procyanidins derivatives from Chinese Hawthorn" by Park YJ, Chung IM, Moon HI.(12)
13. Etc.
Healthy Happy Herbs
A Beginner's Guide To Herbs And
Herb Gardening, Step by step
Super foods Library, Eat Yourself Healthy With The Best of the Best Nature Has to Offer
For the world most popular herbs list, visit http://theworldmostpopularherbs.blogspot.com/2011/10/world-most-popular-herbs-health.html
other health articles, please visit http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment