So good diet (which also helps cardiovascular health)... foods with PQQ, CoQ10, melatonin[1], etc might help.
Ginger lowers blood pressure through blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channels.
Ghayur MN1, Gilani AH. 2005.
The vasodilator effect of crude extract of ginger (Zo.Cr) was endothelium-independent because it was not blocked by L-NAME (0.1 mM) or atropine (1 microM) and also was reproduced in the endothelium-denuded preparations at the same dose range. These data indicate that the blood pressure-lowering effect of ginger is mediated through blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channels.
Antidepressant-like synergism of extracts from magnolia bark and ginger rhizome alone and in combination in mice.
Yi LT1, Xu Q, Li YC, Yang L, Kong LD. 2009.
Magnolia bark and ginger rhizome is a drug pair in many prescriptions for treatment of mental disorders in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, compatibility and synergism mechanism of two herbs on antidepressant actions have not been reported. The aim of this study was to approach the rationale of the drug pair in TCM. We evaluated antidepressant-like effects of mixture of honokiol and magnolol (HMM), polysaccharides (PMB) from magnolia bark, essential oil (OGR) and polysaccharides (PGR) from ginger rhizome alone, and the possibility of synergistic interactions in their combinations in the mouse forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NE) levels in prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum were also examined. 30 mg/kg HMM decreased immobility in the FST and TST in mice after one- and two-week treatment. OGR (19.5 or 39 mg/kg) alone was ineffective. The combination of an ineffective dose of 39 mg/kg OGR with 15 mg/kg HMM was the most effective and produced a synergistic action on behaviors after two-week treatment. Significant increase in 5-HT and synergistic increase in NE in prefrontal cortex were observed after co-administration of HMM with OGR. These results demonstrated that HMM was the principal component of this drug pair, whereas OGR served as adjuvant fraction. Compatibility of HMM with OGR was suggested to exert synergistic antidepressant actions by attenuating abnormalities in serotonergic and noradrenergic system functions. Therefore, we confirmed the rationality of drug pair in clinical application and provided a novel perspective in drug pair of TCM researches.
Effect of Treatment with Ginger on the Severity of Premenstrual Syndrome Symptoms
Samira Khayat, 1 , 2 , 3 Masoomeh Kheirkhah, 4 , 5 ,* Zahra Behboodi Moghadam, 2 Hamed Fanaei, 6 Amir Kasaeian, 7 , 8 and Mani Javadimehr 9. 2014.
Based on the results of this study, maybe ginger is effective in the reduction of severity of mood and physical and behavioral symptoms of PMS and we suggest ginger as treatment for PMS.
Green and black tea are equally potent stimuli of NO production and vasodilation: new insights into tea ingredients involved.
Lorenz M1, Urban J, Engelhardt U, Baumann G, Stangl K, Stangl V. 2009.
Epidemiological studies suggest that consumption of tea is associated with beneficial cardiovascular effects. Since different types of tea are consumed throughout the world, a question of much interest is whether green tea is superior to black tea in terms of cardiovascular protection. We therefore compared the effects of green and black tea on nitric oxide (NO) production and vasodilation and elucidated the tea compounds involved. We chose a highly fermented black tea and determined concentrations of individual tea compounds in both green and black tea of the same type (Assam). The fermented black tea was almost devoid of catechins. However, both teas stimulated eNOS activity and phosphorylation in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) as well as vasorelaxation in rat aortic rings to a similar extent. In green tea, only epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) resulted in pronounced NO production and NO-dependent vasorelaxation in aortic rings. During tea processing to produce black tea, the catechins are converted to theaflavins and thearubigins. Individual black tea theaflavins showed a higher potency than EGCG in NO production and vasorelaxation. The thearubigins in black tea are highly efficient stimulators of vasodilation and NO production. Green and black tea compounds induced comparable phosphorylation of eNOS and upstream signalling kinases. Whereas stimulation of eNOS activity by EGCG was only slightly affected by pretreatment of cells with various ROS scavengers, TF3(theaflavin-3',3-digallate)-induced eNOS activity was partially inhibited by PEG-catalase. These results implicate that highly fermented black tea is equally potent as green tea in promoting beneficial endothelial effects. Theaflavins and thearubigins predominantly counterbalance the lack of catechins in black tea. The findings may underline the contribution of black tea consumption in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Dietary modulation of uptake transporters
Naccarati, Chiara (2014)
Transporters play a determinant role in creating and maintaining physiological balance within the cells. Though, not much information exists on the modulation of transporters, especially in terms of polyphenols and other dietary components. Initially, a comprehensive database was created, using the high-performance search engine Genevestigator. The database summarises the existing knowledge on selected transporters (OAT1, OAT3, OATP1A2, OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OATP4C1, MRP2, MRP3, BCRP, MCT1, MCT7 and SMCT1). The anatomical distribution of the latters was investigated in the human heart, kidney, liver and intestine. Transcriptional modulation was also assessed, in response to biological mediators, disease, chemicals and drugs. It was shown that while some transporters were modulated from a large number of conditions, others only responded to few. Interestingly, not many dietary compounds were tested, highlighting the limited knowledge existing in this area. Subsequently, expression of a transporter of interest, the organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3), was assessed in liver HepG2 cells. It was predicted, on the basis of the Ct value, that OAT3 was expressed in the cell line at low levels. Modulation of OAT3, in response to stressors (hydrogen peroxide, tert-butyl hydroperoxide and ethanol) at various concentrations and for different time lengths was assessed. It was shown that none of the stressors affected the transporter. In the same cell line, uptake of the metabolite kaempferol-3-O-glucuronide was assessed, to establish whether uptake occurred in a carrier-mediated manner or through passive diffusion mainly. Uptake resulted to be carrier-mediated, although the low Vmax of the transport, close to detection limit, did not make possible further studies to identify the transporter(s) involved in its uptake. Finally, intestine Caco-2 cells were used to assess modulation of the serotonin transporter from green tea and coffee. For the first time, it was reported that green tea and coffee acted as modulators of serotonin uptake. Whole extracts showed to act in a concentration-dependent way. Physiological concentrations of individual green tea components showed not to have a significant effect on the uptake, however significant effect was observed when using supplement concentrations (equivalent to 7 cups). Physiological concentrations of several coffee components showed to modulate serotonin uptake. Among them, ferulic acid and 5-feruloylquinic acid showed to act in a competitive manner.
Neurobiological effects of the green tea constituent theanine and its potential role in the treatment of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
Lardner AL. 2014.
Theanine (n-ethylglutamic acid), a non-proteinaceous amino acid component of green and black teas, has received growing attention in recent years due to its reported effects on the central nervous system. It readily crosses the blood-brain barrier where it exerts a variety of neurophysiological and pharmacological effects. Its most well-documented effect has been its apparent anxiolytic and calming effect due to its up-regulation of inhibitory neurotransmitters and possible modulation of serotonin and dopamine in selected areas. It has also recently been shown to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. An increasing number of studies demonstrate a neuroprotective effects following cerebral infarct and injury, although the exact molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Theanine also elicits improvements in cognitive function including learning and memory, in human and animal studies, possibly via a decrease in NMDA-dependent CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP) and increase in NMDA-independent CA1-LTP. Furthermore, theanine administration elicits selective changes in alpha brain wave activity with concomitant increases in selective attention during the execution of mental tasks. Emerging studies also demonstrate a promising role for theanine in augmentation therapy for schizophrenia, while animal models of depression report positive improvements following theanine administration. A handful of studies are beginning to examine a putative role in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and theoretical extrapolations to a therapeutic role for theanine in other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder are discussed.
