Fruit from the Japanese plum tree (Prunus mume) is a traditional food in Japan. Traditionally referred to as ‘Ume,’ the raw fruit contains toxins, and is therefore processed into juice or wine safe for consumption. Recently, bainiku-ekisu, an infused juice concentrate of Prunus mume, has attracted attention as a health promoting supplement. It has been reported that bainiku-ekisu treatment attenuates the growth-promoting signaling induced by Angiotensin II (Ang II) — a circulatory hormone that plays a central role in development of hypertension — in vascular smooth muscle cells. In a new study, scientists at Temple University explored the potential anti-hypertensive benefit of bainiku-ekisu utilizing a mouse model of hypertension with Ang II infusion.
Hypertension remains the major pre-existing pathophysiology for the development of cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction and stroke.
Although significant accomplishments have been made to normalize blood pressure in hypertension patients, patients still have significantly greater risk for cardiovascular disease mortality even when their blood pressure is controlled by medications.
Ang II, the major peptide hormone of the renin angiotensin system plays a central role in development of hypertension.
Inhibitors against the system are an effective and first line choice as hypertension medications. However, meta-analysis suggests that general adherence to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers was only 50-60%.
“It is recognized that drugs alone are not enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in hypertension patients,” said Temple University’s Professor Satoru Eguchi.
“To help solve this problem, we became interested in a supplement that could potentially decrease cardiovascular disease risk and began investigating the effects of bainiku-ekisu, an infused juice concentrate of the Japanese plum.”
To better understand the potential…
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