The fruit of Acanthopanax senticosus Harms improves arterial stiffness and blood pressure: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction are 2 of the independent predictors for cardiovascular disease, while Acumhopcmax senticosus Harms (ASH) is a traditional medicinal plant that can improve cardiovascular health. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the fruit of ASH on vascular function in apparently healthy subjects. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, consisting of healthy adults with at least 2 of the following 3 conditions: borderline high blood pressure (BP; 120 mmHg <= systolic BP <= 160 mmHg or 80 mmHg <= diastolic BP <= 100 mmHg), smoking (>= 10 cigarettes/day), and borderline blood lipid levels (220 <= total cholesterol 240, 130 5 low density lipoprotein cholesterol <= 165, or 150 <= triglyceride <= 220 mg/dL). Randomly assigned 76 subjects who received a placebo or 2 doses of ASH fruit (low, 500 mg/day; high, 1,000 mg/day) completed the intervention. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), flow-mediated dilation, carotid intima-media thickness, and BP were measured both at baseline and following the 12-week intervention. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation was assessed by western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the placebo group, the low-dose group showed more significant changes after the 12-week intervention period in terms of systolic BP (0.1 vs. -7.7 mmHg; P= 0.044), baPWV (31.3 vs. -98.7 cm/s; P= 0.007), and the ratio of phospho-eNOS/eNOS (0.8 vs. 1.22; P= 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ASH fruit extract at 500 mg/day has the potential to improve BP and arterial stiffness via endothelial eNOS activation in healthy adults with smoking and the tendency of having elevated BP or blood lipid parameters.