2015-02-03 11:44:26
Hawthorn extract has been used for cardiovascular disease for a long time. It has shown to be effective for heart failure and for lowering blood pressure. The blood pressure lowering effects are linked to nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation. This study examined dose and artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) (1). The hawthorn extract used was standardized to 50mg oligomeric procyanidin per 250mg extract. Randomly sequenced doses of 1000mg to 2500mg were used. Doses were taken twice daily for 3.5 days and a 4 day washout period before proceeding to the next dose. The results showed that there was no evidence of a dose-response effect for FMD. The authors conclude that there was no dose-response effect and thus hawthorn may not be linked to nitric oxide at all.
References
- Asher GN, et al. Effect of hawthorn standardized extract on flow mediated dilation in prehypertensive and mildly hypertensive adults: a randomized, controlled cross-over trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012;12:26.