Summary of modern studies on Gegen Pingya (Blood Pressure Balance™) Capsule
Chinese Use: Hypertension.
Modern studies on pharmacodynamics reveal that Radix Puerariae in this product yield effects of blood pressure lowering, increasing of blood flow in the brain and coronary arteries, dilatation of peripheral vessels, antipyretic action, anti-tumor, inhibition of platelet aggregation and lowering blood sugar.
1. Lowering blood pressure: After vein injection of 5-30mg/kg puerarial flavones into anesthetized dog, its blood pressure lowered. The degree of lowering is proportional to its dosage, lasting for 5-20 minutes, To high blood pressure dog without anesthetized, total puerarial flavones is fed for 12 consecutive days, it lowers the hypertensive action of nor-adrenalin.
2. Increasing brain blood flow: Total puerarial flavones 1mg/kg is injected into the carotid arteries of 5 anesthetized dog, the blood flow increases rapidly, especially in the first 1-2 minutes. The average increases reaches 21± 3.5% in 3 minutes. The vessel resistance lowers 14±2.5%, and is markedly lowers when the dosage increases to 30mg/kg. Brain blood flow also markedly increases.
3. Dilatation of peripheral vessel, increasing blood flow: After injection of total puerarial flavones of 10, 20, 40mg/kg into femoral arteries of anesthetized dog, its femoral arteries blood flow increases to 22±6.2%, 26±6.9%, 54±15.7% averagely and respectively after 3 minutes. The vessel resistance lowered to 15±4.6%, 14±6.6 and 27±7.0% respectively, demonstrating that it dilates the peripheral vessels.
4. Action on the heart: (1) Increasing coronary blood flow: 20mg/kg of total puerarial flavones is injected into 6 dogs’ veins, the coronary blood flow increase from 138±31 before injection to 203±61mmHg/ml/100%, while blood vessel resistance decrease from 1.15±0.22mmHg/ml/100% before injection to 0.89±0.24mmHg/ml/100% min. This marked increase in blood flow and decrease of vessel resistance demonstrate that puerarial flavones possesses rather strong action of dilating coronary vessel. (2) Improvement of metabolism of cardiac muscle: 30mg/kg of total puerarial flavones was injected into 9 dogs’ vein. After 3 minutes, the oxygen pressure in venous blood charged from 7.2±0.4% before injection to 10.6±0.9%, the oxygen consumption of heart muscle lowers from 11.3±20mg/100g min. before injection to 8.8±2.9mg/100g min.; venous lactic acid increases from 15.2±2.6% before injection to 19.0±2, the utilized rate of lactic acid by myocardium lowers from 41±5% before injection to 23±5%. There is also a marked increase of pyruvic acid with lowered consumption of pyruvic acid in myocardium. (3) Anti-acute cardiac ischemia: When 0.6g/kg total flavones is injected into rat’s vein, an action of anti-acute cardiac ischemia induced by pituitrin can be observed, thus obviously decreases the ischemia reaction of the heart vessel. (4). Anti-arrhythmia: Injection or infusion of puerarine can markedly resist the arrhythmia in rat induced by aconitine and barium chloride. Infusion of alcohol extract of Radix Puerariae also resist the arrhythmia, and prevents the ventricular fibrillation in mice induced by chloroform and barium chloride. There is no obvious difference in anti-arrhythmia action between puerarine and inderal.
Modern studies on pharmacodynamics on liensinine extracted from Plumula Nelumbinis yields short-term pressure-lowering effect. After it trandforms to quaternary ammonium, the pressure-lowering action is markedly increased and last longer. Methyl liensinine can yield dosage-dependent and rapid depressor action in anesthetized rat, renal rat, DOCA hypertensive rat, anesthetized cat and normal rat and rabbit. Injection of liensisine to vertebral artery and intracrainial injection in the dose of 0.6mg/kg markedly lowers blood pressure, demonstrating that methyl liensinine is an active depressor, yielding direct dilating action on smoothing muscle of vessel. It is also effective in spontaneous hypertension in rat. Depressor action by ig administration of this product can last for 3 hours.
Toxicological studies: Oral administration of dry powder of alcohol extract of puerarea 10g/kg and 20g/kg for 3 days yield no toxic reaction, the LD50 of intravenous injection being 12g/kg. Oral administration of alcohol extract in mice 2g/kg for 2 months reveals no pathological injury in organs. For hypertension dogs, oral intake of alcohol extract in dose of 3g/kg for 14 successive days reveals no toxic reaction.
Clinically, this product is applied in hypertension, coronary disease, angina pectoris, sudden deafness and nervous headache.
1. Hypertension: 71 cases were treated, the effect for headache is 82.9%, the total effective rate is 51.8%; for vertigo, 72%, markedly effective rate 33.4%; for neck pain, 84.7%, markedly effective rate 50%
2. Coronary disease, angina pectoris: 120 cases were treated with a total effective rate of 91%, markedly effective rate 68.6% and improvement of EKG 51.2%
3. Sudden deafness: 176 cases were treated, with a total effective rate of 79.5%, markedly effective rate 23.3%.
4. Nervous headache: 42 cases were treated, with a total effective rate of 83%, markedly effective rate 21.4%.
Excerpt from A Guide to TCM Products, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2003
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