Ginkgo biloba extract improves coronary artery circulation in patients with coronary artery disease: contribution of plasma nitric oxide and endothelin-1.

Full Abstract

In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), coronary blood flow is usually impaired due to imbalanced vasoactive substances such as nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1). The study was designed to test the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on the distal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) blood flow and plasma NO and ET-1 levels. Eighty CAD patients were randomly assigned to GBE (n = 42) and control (n = 38) groups. The LAD blood flow was assessed non-invasively using Doppler echocardiography at baseline and after 2 weeks. GBE treatment demonstrated a significant improvement in maximal diastolic peak velocity (MDPV), maximal systolic peak velocity (MSPV) and diastolic time velocity integral (DTVI) compared with controls (14.61 +/- 4.51% vs 0.67 +/- 2.66%, 9.03 +/- 4.81% vs 0.34 +/- 2.67% and 14.69 +/- 5.08% vs 0.68 +/- 3.00%, respectively, p < 0.01). NO was increased by 12.42% (p < 0.01), whereas ET-1 was decreased by 5.82% (p < 0.01). The NO/ET-1 ratio was increased by 19.47% (p < 0.01). A linear correlation was confirmed between the percentage change in LAD blood flow and in NO, ET-1 or NO/ET-1 ratio following GBE treatment. The results suggest that GBE treatment in CAD patients led to an increase of LAD blood flow, which might at least be related partly to the restoration of the delicate equilibrium between NO and ET-1.Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Author information

Author/s: Wu, Yu-Zhou (YZ); Li, Shu-Qin (SQ); Zu, Xiu-Guang (XG); Du, Jun (J); Wang, Feng-Fei (FF);

Affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Phytotherapy research : PTR (Phytother Res), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 22 (issue 6) : pp 734-9

Dates: Created 2008/05/05; Completed 2008/07/28;

PMID: 18446847, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Coronary Artery Disease - blood; drug therapy
Coronary Circulation - drug effects
Echocardiography
Endothelin-1 - blood
Female
Ginkgo biloba - chemistry

Ginkgo biloba - chemistry
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nitric Oxide - blood
Plant Extracts - pharmacology
Treatment Outcome

Associated Chemicals: Endothelin-1 (0) ; Plant Extracts (0) ; Nitric Oxide (10102-43-9)

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