Natural products and Hypertension: Scope and role in Antihypertensive Therapy

Abstract

Recent studies shown that the data of clinical, experimental and epidemiological studies indicates that dietary phytoestrogens, flavonoids and polyphenolic compounds have shown most potent activities for prevention in CVDs. The major class of compounds found in phytoestrogen. These phytoestrogens are sub-classified into coumestans, prenylflavonoids and isoflavones. These class having the most active class in estrogenic effects, polyphenols (also known as polyhydroxyphenols includes tannic acid, ellagitannin. These studies also indicate that dietary supplements and food nutrients have profound cardioprotective effects in the primary as well as secondary coronary heart disease and hence they are considered as cardiovascular friendly natural products. The mechanism of cardioprotection produced by dietary nutritional supplements such as phytoestrogens (soy and soy protein), flavonoids (citrus fruits, pulses, red wine, tea and cocoa), olive oil, omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil and fish-based products), lycopene (tomato and tomato-based products), resveratrol (grapes and red wine), coffee, and soy in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders have been discussed in the following review (in parenthesis) with the emphasis of epidemiological and clinical studies. Based on the intriguing results of various studies, prophylactic and therapeutic potential of cardiovascular friendly natural products have been suggested.