Development of a quantified herbal extract of hawthorn Crataegus mexicana leaves with vasodilator effect

Abstract

Hawthorn ( Crataegus spp .) has been used for the treatment of several heart diseases and hypertension. The studies carried out on several hawthorn species have led to the development of standardized extracts useful in the cure of mild chronic cardiac diseases. In Mexico, the most common Crataegus species are C. mexicana and C. gracilior . Decoctions prepared from the fruits and leaves of these species have been employed to the treat respiratory diseases, tachycardia and to improve coronary blood flow. Considering that to date there are no reports of the use of Mexican Crataegus species to treat cardiovascular diseases, we propose an analytical method to obtain a quantified extract of Crataegus mexicana leaves for the development of a standardized extract with therapeutic value in cardiovascular diseases as an alternative source to the extracts obtained from Crataegus species of European and Asian origin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to obtain an extract prepared from C. mexicana leaves with the highest vasodilator activity to select the optimal chemical marker to stablish and validate a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RPHPLC-DAD) analytical method for obtaining a quantified extract with vasodilator effect. The results obtained from the analytical method validation, which was carried out according to the guidelines stablished in the Eurachem Guide and the ICH guidelines proved that the RPHPLC-DAD method we developed was specific, precise, accurate, and showed good linearity over the concentration range of 3 – 21 µg/ml for (-)-epicatechin and rutin, which were selected as chemical markers.

Día de muertos: ¿festividad o clase de química?

“…Una fruta originaria de nuestro país cuyo nombre proviene del Náhuatl "texocolt" que significa "fruto duro de sabor agrio. 15 El consumo de este pequeño fruto anaranjado y con pecas, va a proveer al cuerpo humano de un vasto beneficio como un adecuado funcionamiento del sistema nervioso, reforzar el sistema inmunológico 16 y reducir la tendencia a padecer enfermedades crónicas por afecciones oxidativas 17 y cardiovasculares, 18 que acorde a diversas investigaciones, éste bien, está ligado al contenido de flavonoides y procianidinas. 19 Dentro de la variedad de platillos que se colocan en la ofrenda, encontramos el chacualole o xacualole (del náhuatl xacualolli, del verbo xacualoa, «amasar») el cual es un dulce elaborado con calabaza de Castilla (Cucurbita argyrosperma) conocido como dulce de calabaza o calabaza en tacha que además de su gran sabor, estudios muestran la presencia de compuestos de tipo cucurbitacinas 20 que estan relacionadas con efectos anticancerigenos 21 y antioxidantes.…”