8 Plants From South Africa May Hold Potential For Treating High Blood Pressure
The study, entitled ACE Inhibitor Activity of Nutritive Plants in Kwa-Zulu Natal, was conducted by Irene Mackraj and S. Ramesar, both of the Department of Physiology and Physiological Chemistry; and H. Baijnath, Department of Biological and Conservation Sciences; University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa. Dr. Mackraj presented the team's findings at the 120th annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS; http://www.the-aps.org/), held as part of the Experimental Biology (EB '07) conference. More than 12,000 scientific researchers attended the gathering held at the Washington, DC Convention Center.
Background and Methodology
Hypertension is treated with medication, including drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB). These drugs not only lower blood pressure but offer additional protection to the brain and heart. ACEI, in particular, provide beneficial properties to patients with type 1 diabetes.
In an effort to identify indigenous plants consumed by the local population in Kwa-Zulu Natal that hold potential antihypertensive properties, the researchers examined 16 plants to identify ACE inhibitor activity. The plants were:
* Amaranthus dubius, a flowering plant also known as spleen amaranth
* Amaranthus hybridus, commonly known as smooth pigweed or slim amaranth
* Amaranthus spinosus, also known as spiny amaranth
* Asystasia gangetica, an ornamental, ground cover known as Chinese violet. Also used in Nigerian folk medicine for the management of asthma.
* Centella asiatica, a small herbaceous annual plant commonly referred to as Asiatic pennywort
* Ceratotheca triloba, a tall annual plant that flowers in summer sometimes referred to as poppy sue
* Chenopodium album, also called lamb's quarters, this is a weedy annual plant
* Emex australis, commonly known as southern three corner jack
* Galinsoga parviflora, commonly referred to as gallant soldier
* Justicia flava, also known as yellow justicia and taken for coughs and treatment of fevers
* Momordica balsamina, an African herbal traditional medicine also known as the balsam apple
* Oxygonum sinuatum, an invasive weed with no common name
* Physalis viscosa, known as starhair ground cherry
* Senna occidentalis, a very leafy tropical shrub whose seeds have been used in coffee; called septic weed
* Solanum nodiflorum, also known as white nightshade
* Tulbaghia violacea, a bulbous plant with hairless leaves often referred to as society or wild garlic
Dried leaves from the plants were ground and used to prepare organic and acqueous extracts. Ten grams of ground plant material was suspended in either a methanol or distilled water solution for 48 hours. Each solution was subsequently filtered and the filtrate was left to air dry resulting in the specific test compound. ACE activity was determined using a flourimetric method with Hip-His-Leu as a substrate. The fluorescence of the o-phthaldialdehyde was measured to determine the effect of the plant on ACE activity.
Plasma ACE activity was determined using rat plasma. The IC50 of the conventional ACEI, captopril was determined to test the sensitivity of the assay. At least three separate determinations were conducted for each test compound. A tannin test was only conducted on those plant extracts that exhibited over 50 percent ACE inhibition in the initial analysis. The data was subjected to GraphPad Instat (GraphPad Software Inc, San Diego, CA, USA). All values were expressed as mean ± SEM. A probability where p
8 plante din Africa de Sud pot deþine potenþialul pentru tratarea hipertensiunii arteriale - 8 Plants From South Africa May Hold Potential For Treating High Blood Pressure - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate