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Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata or Crataegus oxyacantha)

Specific Recommendations:

• Hawthorn betty extract at Amazon.com

News & Research:

• Benefit-Risk Assessment of Crataegus Extract WS 1442 - Medscape, 2/5/18 - "Preparations from Crataegus (hawthorn) have a long history in the treatment of heart failure ... Changes in heart failure-associated symptoms and health-related QoL during treatment with WS 1442 were assessed in several trials.[37,43,45,56,57] In two trials, the von Zerssen Complaints List,[61] a validated self-rating questionnaire assessing 24 general symptoms, some of which (e.g., shortness of breath, fatigue) are particularly important in heart failure, was used. In the study reported by Leuchtgens,[56] which included 30 patients (15 per group), those treated with WS 1442 for 8 weeks showed a significantly more pronounced decrease of the total score of the scale than those in the placebo group (mean value difference 7.3 points, 95% CI 0.9–13.7, according to[52]). In the study of Tauchert[37] in which 209 patients received 1800 or 900 mg/day WS 1442 or placebo for 16 weeks, both WS 1442 dosages showed a significantly more pronounced total score decrease compared to placebo" - See hawthorn betty extract at Amazon.com.
• Herbal Remedy, Hawthorn Extract, Can Help The Heart, Review Finds - Science Daily, 1/22/08 - "The trials involved a total of 855 patients and the data indicated that hawthorn extract: ... improved maximal workload ... increased exercise tolerance ... reduced oxygen consumption by the heart ... reduced shortness of breath and fatigue"
• Hawthorn Extract Helps People with Chronic Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 8/7/03
• Hawthorn Extract Improves Exercise Tolerance in People with Congestive Heart Failure - New Hope Natural Media, 7/25/02 - "Hawthorn may be a safer substance to consider in cases of mild to moderate heart failure, as an alternative to, or in addition to, prescription medications ... German scientists studied the effect of 240 mg per day of a hawthorn extract or placebo for three months in 39 people with moderate heart failure ... In the group taking hawthorn, exercise tolerance on a stationary bicycle improved by almost 11%, but decreased by about 17% in those taking a placebo. Those taking hawthorn also reported feeling better overall"
• Hawthorn: Old Reliable for the Heart - Nutrition Science News, 8/00
• Does hawthorn cure congestive heart failure? - Nutrition Science News, 6/00
• Sidestep Heart Disease - Nutrition Science News, 3/99

Abstracts:

• Neuroprotective effects of hawthorn leaf flavonoids in Aβ25-35 -induced Alzheimer's disease model - Phytother Res 2022 Nov 29 - "Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal cell loss, and oxidative stress. Further deposition of Aβ in the brain induces oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and memory dysfunction. Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida Bge.) leaf, a known traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly used for the treatment of hyperlipidemia, heart palpitations, forgetfulness, and tinnitus, and its main bioactive components are Hawthorn Leaf Flavonoids (HLF) ... the oral administration of HLF at a dose of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg for 30 days significantly ameliorated neuronal cell damage and memory deficits, and markedly increased the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase, and the content of glutathione whereas it decreased the malondialdehyde content in the Aβ25-35 rat model of AD as well as suppressed the activation of astrocytes. In addition, HLF up-regulated Nrf-2, NQO-1, and HO-1 protein expressions. Also, it reduced neuroinflammation by inhibiting activation of astrocytes. In summary, these results indicated that HLF decreased the oxidative stress via activating Nrf-2/antioxidant response element signaling pathways, and may suggest as a potential candidate for AD therapeutic agent" - See hawthorn betty extract at Amazon.com.
• Hawthorn flavonoid ameliorates cognitive deficit in mice with Alzheimer's disease by increasing the levels of Bifidobacteriales in gut microbiota and docosapentaenoic acid in serum metabolites - Food Funct 2022 Nov 14 - "Hawthorn flavonoid (HF) exhibits potential benefits in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but its mechanism of action remains elusive ... Our results showed that HF reversed the gut microbiota disturbance and metabolic disorder in AD mice by increasing the proportions of Dubosiella, Alloprevotella, and Bifidobacterium and decreasing the proportions of Acinetobacter, as well as increasing the levels of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), sphingolipid (SM), and phosphatidylcholine (PC). Notably, a positive correlation between DPA and Bifidobacterium was observed for the first time. Therefore, HF may serve as a promising dietary supplement for improving the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease"
• Hawthorn fruit extract ameliorates H2O2-induced oxidative damage in neuronal PC12 cells and prolongs the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans via the IIS signaling pathway - Food Funct 2022 Sep 29 - "Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) fruit has a long history of use as traditional Chinese medicine and is shown to have many health benefits including antioxidant and anti-aging. In this study, the anti-aging mechanism of hawthorn fruit extract (HFE) is predicted by network pharmacology and further verified in H2O2-induced PC12 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans ... HFE significantly improved cell viability, increased superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activity, decreased lactate dehydrogenase release, the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde content in H2O2-induced PC12 cells (p < 0.05). HFE significantly increased the mean lifespan of C. elegans by 28.43% (100 μg mL-1) and enhanced the stress resistance to H2O2, paraquat, juglone, ultraviolet radiation, and heat shock. HFE also suppressed the accumulation of aging pigments, improved the body bending ability, increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and reduced the contents of ROS and malondialdehyde. In addition, relevant gene expression, lifespan experiments with mutant strains, and molecular docking studies supported the results that HFE might extend lifespan through the IIS signal pathway"
• Procyanidins from hawthorn ( Crataegus pinnatifida) alleviate lipid metabolism disorder via inhibiting insulin resistance and oxidative stress, normalizing the gut microbiota structure and intestinal barrier, and further suppressing hepatic inflammation and lipid accumulation - Food Funct 2022 Jul 4 - "Recently, lipid metabolism disorder (LMD) has been regarded as a risk factor leading to multiple diseases and affecting human health. Procyanidins have been reported to be a potential therapy for LMD. This study explored the effect and possible mechanism of procyanidins from hawthorn (HPC) in LMD rats fed a high-fat diet. HPC supplementation for 8 weeks significantly relieved lipid accumulation in the serum and liver, and protected the structure of liver in LMD rats. The amelioration of insulin resistance, lipid metabolism related hormones and oxidative stress was also found. Moreover, HPC also regulated the structure of gut microbiota, especially increased the abundances of Akkermansia, Bacteroides and Adlercreutzia, and decreased Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Blautia, Lachnospiraceae and Subdoligranulum. Additionally, HPC enriched genes were involved in the fatty acid biosynthesis, MAPK, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis pathways. We found a high LPS level due to the microbiome disorder induced by the high-fat diet, and then western blot results showed that HPC maintained the intestinal barrier and mitigated inflammation and lipid accumulation in the liver via regulating the NF-κB and AMPK pathways, which were related to LMD. This study provided new insights into dietary intervention based on HPC to alleviate LMD via stabilizing the gut-liver axis" - See hawthorn betty extract at Amazon.com.
• Hawthorn Fruit Attenuates Atherosclerosis by Improving the Hypolipidemic and Antioxidant Activities in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice - J Atheroscler Thromb. 2013 Oct 11 - "ApoE-/- mice were divided into a control group (n=10) and hawthorn fruit group (n=10) ... The hawthorn fruit group mice developed significantly decreased (p＜0.05) atherosclerotic lesions. The levels of serum lipids decreased significantly (p＜0.05) and the levels of cholesterol/triglycerides, including very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), decreased in the hawthorn fruit group ... The hepatic fatty acid synthase (FAS) and sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) mRNA levels were reduced by 42% (p＜0.05) and 23% p＜0.05) in the mice fed the hawthorn fruit diet compared with that observed in the mice fed a standard diet" - See hawthorn products at Amazon.com.
• Immunomodulatory effect of Hawthorn extract in an experimental stroke model - J Neuroinflammation. 2010 Dec 30;7(1):97 - "middle cerebral artery occlusion-(MCAO) induced stroke ... In summary, Hawthorn extract helped alleviate pro-inflammatory immune responses associated with I/R-induced injury, boosted IL-10 levels, and increased Foxp3-positive Tregs in the brain, which may have aided in suppression of activated inflammatory cells. Such treatment also minimizes apoptotic cell death by influencing STAT-3 phosphorylation and Bcl-xL expression in the brain. Taken together, the immunomodulatory effect of Hawthorn extract may play a critical role in the neuroprotection observed in this MCAO-induced stroke model"