Artichoke Inhibits Plaques That Cause Atherosclerosis, Scientists Say

Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease associated with hardening and stiffing of the arterial wall caused by long-term plague accumulation, leading to the reduced function of the arterial to transport oxygen risk blood to the heart and the body.

Atherosclerosis is also a leading cause of 3 types of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral vascular disease.

Plaque is a substance made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood.

Atherosclerosis is a very slow growing disease, the progression of the disease are associated with the slow plaque accumulation which starts at an early age, depending on the diet and lifestyle pattern.

Most common symptoms of atherosclerosis are associated with the reduced supply of oxygen to tissue and organs, including chest pain or angina. pain in your leg, arm, shortness of breath. fatigue. confusion, muscle weakness in your legs from lack of circulation.


If you experience some of the above symptoms, please make sure that you check with your doctor to rule the possibility of atherosclerosis.

Conventionally, most cases of atherosclerosis are treated with Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors which help to slow the progression of atherosclerosis by lowering blood pressure and producing other beneficial effects on the heart arteries.

However, some researchers suggested that heart-healthy lifestyle changes may also have a strong implication on the disease.

Dr. Matthias Nahrendorf, the lead scientist in the examination of the link between lifestyle and risk of atherosclerosis, said, "Accumulating data indicate that psychosocial stress and a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet aggravate the cardiovascular disease, whereas regular physical activity and healthy sleeping habits help prevent it".


The results clearly suggested that people followed a healthy lifestyle are associated with the risk of
atherosclerosis.

Artichoke is a perennial thistle of Cynara cardunculus species of the Cynara genus, belonging to the family Carduoideae native to Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

The herbal plant has been used in traditional medicine as a liver protective and detoxified agent, and to treat digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.

On review of the clinical and pharmacological of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), used in European medicine from the 18th century for the treatment of chronic disease, researchers examined the herbal remedy effect against atherosclerosis.

Injection of artichoke inhibited the onset and progression of atherosclerosis by modulating the levels of plasma lipid levels through the inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

Futhermore, artichoke also induced the production of antioxidant enzymes against the free radical oxidation in the liver tissues.

In other words, artichoke protected the arteries against the accumulation of plaque on the arterial wall by protecting the liver in lipid metabolism through its antioxidant activity.

Furthermore, in order to reveal more information about artichoke anti-atherosclerosis activity, researchers evaluated the polyphenols and flavonoids in artichoke leaf tincture (ALT) against cellular oxidative damage.

The study included 18 male Wistar albino rats divided into three groups (n = 6/group):
* The control group (CG) was fed with standard pellet chow for 11 weeks;

* The AD group was fed for a similar period of time with pellet chow supplemented with 2% cholesterol, 3% sunflower oil and 1% sodium cholate. and

* The ADA group was fed with pellet chow (for 1 week), the atherogenic diet (see above) for the following 4 weeks and then with ALT (0.1 mL/kg body weight) and atherogenic diet for 6 weeks.


During the study, researchers found that compared to the AD group
* The ADA group exerted a significant increase of antioxidants activity observed by the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO1).

* The ADA group lower the expression of MCP-1 which has been strongly linked to atherosclerosis in both animal and human studies.

* The ADA group lower the DNA scores associated with the risk of atherosclerosis.

Compared to the CG group, the HO-1 mRNA involved immune response was also lower in the ADA group.

In other words, artichoke inhibited the effects of the atherogenic diet through reduced MCP-1 expression, thereby preventing oxidative damage.


Taken altogether, artichoke may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References

(1) [Artichoke--untapped potential of herbal medicine in the treatment of atherosclerosis and liver diseases].[Article in Polish] by Horoszkiewicz M1, Kulza M, Malinowska K, Woźniak A, Seńczuk-Przybyłowska M, Wachowiak A, Florek E.(PubMed)
(2) The role of artichoke leaf tincture (Cynara scolymus) in the suppression of DNA damage and atherosclerosis in rats fed an atherogenic diet by Bogavac-Stanojevic N1, Kotur Stevuljevic J1, Cerne D2, Zupan J2, Marc J2, Vujic Z3, Crevar-Sakac M3, Sopic M1, Munjas J1, Radenkovic M4, Jelic-Ivanovic Z. (PubMed)
(3) Lifestyle Effects on Hematopoiesis and Atherosclerosis by Matthias Nahrendorf and Filip K. Swirski. (Circulation Research)