Wissenschaftliche Studien

Pycnogenol^® for Cardiovascular Health

Coronary heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in most countries of the world. Several risk independent risk factors have been identified which contribute to coronary heart disease. High total blood cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, hypertension and increased blood platelet reactivity increase the risk of developing acute cardiovascular events. Life style changes, primarily involving more physical activity and dietary interventions can significantly alter all three major cardiovascular risk factors. Clinical research has demonstrated that Pycnogenol^® tackles all three cardiovascular risk factors simultaneously.

Pycnogenol^® for Hypertension

 Pycnogenol for hypertension

Pycnogenol^® for Healthy Cholesterol Levels

When blood carries high amounts of LDL cholesterol this bears the risk that this waxy substance forms deposits in blood vessel walls. The resulting phenomenon, atherosclerosis, is one of the primary risk factors for cardio-vascular disease. In an attempt by a subset of white blood cells to remove the cholesterol deposits, the blood vessel gets further damaged. With time the inflammatory damage may reach a level where blood platelets perceive the blood vessel as injured and aggregate to form a blood clot. This event (thrombosis) may cause of occlusion of a blood vessel essentially anywhere in the body. When arteries (coronaries) supporting heart muscle tissue is occluded by a clot the interrupted oxygen supply may result in a heart attack.

Pycnogenol^® for Healthy Platelet Function

 Pycnogenol for healthy platelet function

Bibliography

Pycnogenol^® and Coenzyme Q10 enhance cardiovascular health synergistically.
Watson, R.R. (2005)Nutraceutical Synergism: Pycnogenol^® and Coenzyme Q10 Enhance Cardiovascular Health. Evid. Based Integrative Med. 2(2): 67-70.

Pycnogenol^® as a neutraceutical in cardiovascular health and diabetes (Review).
Gulati, O.P. (2006)The Nutraceutical Pycnogenol^®: its role in cardiovascular health and blood glucose control. Biomedical Reviews 16: 49-57.

Pycnogenol^® counteracts the constriction of blood vessels due to stress. The vaso-relaxant activity of Pycnogenol^® is mediated through nitric oxide.
Fitzpatrick, D.F., Bing, B. and Rohdewald, P. (1998)Endothelium-dependent vascular effects of Pycnogenol^®.Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 32: 509-515.

Pycnogenol^® helps fighting against heart disease by inhibiting adhesion and aggregation of platelets and improving microcirculatory blood flow in humans.
Wang, S., Tan, D. , Zhao, Y., Gao, G., Gao, X. and Hu, L. (1999)The effect of Pycnogenol^® on the microcirculation, platelet function and ischemic myocardium in patients with coronary artery diseases. European Bulletin of Drug Research, 7 (2): 19-25.

Pycnogenol^® helps to maintain a healthy circulation through vasodilatation, anti platelet aggregation, free radical scavenging and capillary sealing effects. The role of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) is also discussed.
Rohdewald, P. (1999)Reducing the risk for stroke and heart infarction with Pycnogenol^®. European Bulletin of Drug Research, 7 (2): 14-18.

Pycnogenol^® improves endothelial function of hypertensive patients and helps to lower the dose of the antihypertensive drug (Nifedipine) when administered simultaneously.
Liu, X., Wei, J., Tan, F., Zhou, S., Würthwein, G. and Rohdewald, P. (2004) Pycnogenol^® French maritime pine bark extract, improves endothelial function of hypertensive patients.Life Sciences, 74: 855-862.

Pycnogenol^® increases antioxidant capacity and lowers cholesterol in obese volunteers in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Devaraj, S., Vega-López, S., Kaul, N., Schönlau, F., Rohdewald, P. and Jialal, I. (2002)Supplementation with a pine bark extract rich in polyphenols increases plasma antioxidant capacity and alters plasma lipoprotein profile.Lipids 37 (10): 931-934.

Pycnogenol^® increases red blood cell membrane fluidity and protects erythrocytes against oxidative stress.
Sivonova, M., Waczulikova, I., Kilanczyk, E., Hrnciarova, M., Bryszewska, M., Klajnert, B. and Durackova, Z. (2004)The effect of Pycnogenol^® on the erythrocyte membrane fluidity.Gen. Physiol. Biophysic, 23: 39-51

Pycnogenol^® inhibits smoking induced platelet aggregation in dose-dependent manner in humans. The effect lasts for more than 6 days and unlike aspirin, it does not produce increase in bleeding time.
Pütter, M., Grotemeyer, K.H.M., Würthwein, G., Araghi-Niknam, M., Watson R.R., Hosseini, S. and Rohdewald, P. (1999)Inhibition of smoking-induced platelet aggregation by Aspirin and Pycnogenol^®.Thrombosis Research, 95: 155-161

Pycnogenol^® inhibits smoking-induced increased levels of thromboxane B2, the noxious agent involved in the increased platelet reactivity/aggregation in smokers. These results explain the mechanism of anti-platelet aggregation activity of Pycnogenol^® observed in smokers.
Araghi-Niknam, M., Hosseini, S., Larson D., Rohdewald, P. and Watson R.R. (1999)Pine bark extract reduces platelet aggregation.Integrative Medicine, 2 (2/3). 73-77.

Pycnogenol^® inhibits the angiotensin II converting enzyme (ACE) and produces a moderate hypotensive effect in rats.
Blazso, G., Gaspar R., Gabor, M., Rüve H-J and Rohdewald, P. (1996)ACE inhibition and hypotensive effect of procyanidinis containing extract from the bark of Pinus pinaster Sol. Pharm. Pharmacol. Lett., 6(1): 8-11.

Pycnogenol^® inhibits the most important pro-inflammatory enzymes, signalizing Pycnogenol's bioavailability.
Schäfer, A., Chovanova, Z., Muchova, J., Sumegova, K., Liptakova, A., Durackova, Z., Högger, P. (2005)Inhibition of Cox-1 and Cox-2 activity by plasma of human volunteers after ingestion of French maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol)Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 60: 5-9.

Pycnogenol^® lowered LDL significantly in patients with chronic venous insufficiency while horse chestnut seed extract had no effect.
Koch, R. (2002)Comparative study of Venostasin® and Pycnogenol^® in chronic venous insufficiency.Phytotherapy Research 16: 1-5.

Pycnogenol^® reduces blood pressure, as shown in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study performed in mildly hypertensive patients. Furthermore, Pycnogenol^® significantly decreases the level of the vasoconstrictor factor (thromboxane) in blood of these patients.
Hosseini, S., Lee, J., Sepulveda, R. T., Rohdewald, P., Watson, R. R. (2001)A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, prospective, 16 week crossover study to determine the role of Pycnogenol^® in modifying blood pressure in mildly hypertensive patientsNutrition Research, 21: 1251-1260

Pycnogenol^® supplementation lowered total cholesterol and LDL and increased HDL, resulting in a better atherosclerotic index.
Durackova, Z., Trebaticky, B., Novotny, V., Zitnanova, I. and Breza, J. (2003)Lipid metabolism and erectile function improvement by Pycnogenol^®, extract from the bark of Pinus pinaster in patients suffering from erectile Dysfunction - a pilot study.Nutrition Research, 23: 1189-1198.

Pycnogenol^® supplementation reduced blood levels of the
"bad" "cholesterol LDL in human volunteers."

Review of the positive effects of Pycnogenol^® for cardiovascular health, based on the published clinical studies in the cardiovascular area.
Watson, R.R. (2003)Pycnogenol^® and cardiovascular health.Evidence Based Integrative Medicine, 1(1): 27-32.

Pycnogenol^® stimulates synthesis of antioxidative enzymes insidecells of the arteries thereby doubling the amount of antioxidativeenzymes.
Wei, Z. H., Peng, Q. L. and Lau, B.H. S. (1997)Pycnogenol^® enhances endothelial cell antioxidant defenses.Redox Report, 3(4): 219-224.

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