Enzymology and Drug Design Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
Biochemistry Unit, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Caleb University, Lagos, Nigeria.
J Food Biochem. 2022 Jan;46(1):e14003. doi: 10.1111/jfbc.14003. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Hypertension is the most common non-communicable disease, with about 1.28 billion hypertensive people worldwide. It is more prevalent in men than women and more common in the elderly. Hereditary, age, obesity, lifestyle, diet, alcohol, and chronic metabolic diseases are the major risk factors of hypertension. Treating hypertension is a complex process as there are several mechanisms responsible for its pathogenesis; hence, a combination of several drugs is used for managing hypertension. Drugs used in managing hypertension are expensive and often come with associated side effects; thus, there is need for alternative means of managing this life-threatening disease. These drugs do not achieve the recommended blood pressure target in most people; more so majority of people with hypertension do not follow the treatment regimen religiously. Some Africans have been reported to become normotensive as a result of dietary consumption of spices. Several spices have been used over the years in Africa to manage hypertension. The aim of this review is to evaluate the ethnomedicinal use, bioactive phytochemical composition, bioactive compounds present, and pharmacological applications of spices commonly used in Africa for managing hypertension. Most of the plants used contained polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, anthraquinone, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, and saponins. Dietary supplementation of Xylopia aethiopica and other spices in diet have been proven to significantly reduced plasma angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) than simvastatin (the reference drug). Toxicological, histological, and hematological evaluation revealed that acute and chronic consumption of most of these spices are safe. Studies have also revealed that some of the spices can be used as alternative therapy alongside usual antihypertensive medications. PRACTICAL IMPLICATION: The prevalent rate of hypertension is on the increase in both the developed and developing countries. People often skip medication due to their busy schedule and anti-hypertensive potential side effects; however, this is not the case with food/spices as most people consumed them daily. Deliberate, right combinations and consistent incorporation of spices with proven anti-hypertensive potential into our diet may be of great benefit in normalizing blood pressure and mitigate other complications on the heart and vital organs.
高血压是最常见的非传染性疾病，全球约有 12.8 亿高血压患者。男性比女性更常见，老年人更为常见。遗传、年龄、肥胖、生活方式、饮食、酒精和慢性代谢性疾病是高血压的主要危险因素。治疗高血压是一个复杂的过程，因为有几种机制负责其发病机制；因此，通常会联合使用几种药物来治疗高血压。用于治疗高血压的药物价格昂贵，且常常伴有副作用；因此，需要寻找替代方法来治疗这种危及生命的疾病。这些药物并不能使大多数人达到推荐的血压目标；此外，大多数高血压患者并没有严格遵循治疗方案。据报道，一些非洲人由于饮食中摄入香料而变得血压正常。多年来，非洲一直在使用几种香料来治疗高血压。本综述的目的是评估非洲常用的香料的民族医学用途、生物活性植物化学成分、存在的生物活性化合物以及在治疗高血压方面的药理学应用。大多数被使用的植物都含有多酚、类黄酮、单宁、蒽醌、类黄酮、强心苷和皂苷。膳食补充剂 Xylopia aethiopica 和其他香料的饮食已被证明可显著降低血浆血管紧张素转化酶（ACE），比辛伐他汀（参考药物）效果更好。毒理学、组织学和血液学评估显示，大多数这些香料的急性和慢性消耗是安全的。研究还表明，一些香料可以与常规降压药物一起用作替代疗法。实际意义：高血压在发达国家和发展中国家的发病率都在上升。由于工作繁忙和抗高血压药物的潜在副作用，人们经常会跳过药物治疗；然而，对于食物/香料来说并非如此，因为大多数人每天都会食用它们。有意识地、正确地组合并将具有明确抗高血压潜力的香料持续纳入我们的饮食中，可能会对降低血压和减轻对心脏和重要器官的其他并发症有很大益处。
