Table 4.
Reduction of blood serum atherogenicity after a single dose of botanicals.
| time after administration, hours | serum atherogenicity, % from baseline | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| hawthorn | St. John's wort | ||
| 0 | 100 | 100 | |
| 2 | 26,7±12,1 * | 37,0±37,0 | |
| 4 | 16,7±16,7 * | 36,7±29,0 | |
| 8 | 35,3±24,3 | 56,0±29,5 | |
*
Significant reduction in blood serum atherogenicity, p <0.05.
Four patients were given water extract of 8 g hawthorn berries or 3 g St. John's wort herb. Before a single dose as well as 2, 4 and 8 hours after, the patient's blood was collected and blood serum was added to primary culture of subendothelial intimal cells from uninvolved human aorta as described [54-56]. In 24 hours cellular cholesterol was measured. Serum atherogenicity was determined as an increase of cholesterol content in cultured cells caused by serum sample.