Radix Puerariae rebalances vasomotor factors and improves left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension

Yan Liu; Su Liang; Peili Bu; Ershun Liang; Fangfang Yan; Yifan Xing; Pengfei Zhang

doi:10.3892/etm.2020.8746

Radix Puerariae rebalances vasomotor factors and improves left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension

Exp Ther Med. 2020 Aug;20(2):705-713. doi: 10.3892/etm.2020.8746. Epub 2020 May 13.

Authors

Yan Liu¹, Su Liang², Peili Bu¹, Ershun Liang¹, Fangfang Yan³, Yifan Xing³, Pengfei Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Ministry of Health, and The State and Shandong Province Joint Key Laboratory of Translational Cardiovascular Medicine, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China.
² Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan Maternity and Child Care Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250001, P.R. China.
³ Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to validate the beneficial role of Radix Puerariae in rebalancing the plasma levels of endothelin, angiotensin II (AngII) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in patients with essential hypertension (EHT). A total of 150 patients with EHT were enrolled consecutively and randomized to receive antihypertensive drugs according to guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT group) and GDMT plus Radix Puerariae (GDMT + RP group). The blood pressure was recorded biweekly. At baseline and at the end of the follow-up (12 weeks), the plasma levels of endothelin, AngII and CGRP were detected, whilst the left ventricular (LV) diastolic function was evaluated by echocardiography. At baseline, the two groups did not differ in terms of demographic characteristics and LV diastolic dysfunction. At the end of the follow-up, lower blood pressure was observed in the GDMT + RP compared with that in the GDMT group. The plasma levels of AngII and endothelin were also significantly lower in the GDMT + RP group. The plasma levels of CGRP increased significantly in the GDMT + RP compared with those in the GDMT group. The addition of Radix Puerariae improved LV diastolic function, with the percentage of dysfunction decreasing to only 9%, while this percentage remained significantly elevated (21%) in the GDMT group. The results of the present study demonstrated that Radix Puerariae is able to regulate blood pressure and the plasma levels of endothelin, AngII and CGRP in patients with EHT. LV diastolic dysfunction was also improved, as detected by echocardiography.

Keywords: Radix Puerariae; angiotensin II; calcitonin gene-related peptide; echocardiography; endothelin; essential hypertension; left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.