Natural Products and Cardiovascular Health

Fatty acids. Benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease. Fatty acids from olive oil and their effect in the cardiovascular system. Polyketides. Natural polyketides to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Coumarins. Anticoagulants in heart protection. Stilbenes and xanthones. Resveratrol. Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) xanthones in cardiovascular health. Flavonoids. Flavonoids and mitochondrial pharmacology: A new paradigm for cardioprotection. Modulation of nitric oxide by flavonoids. Molecular mechanisms behind the biological effects of hesperidin and hesperetin for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Bioactive C-glycosyl flavones on cardioavascular system. Tannins. Hidrolyzable tannins. Pomegranate. Chemistry and therapeutic potential in cardiovascular diseases. Berry polyphenols and cardiovascular health. Condensed tannins. Cardiovascular protection of proanthocyanidins. Peptides. Cardioprotective peptides from marine sources. Carbohydrates. Sulfated polysaccharides as Preventive Agents for Cardiovascular Diseases. Terpenes. The cardioprotective nature of terpenes from olive tree. Chemical and pharmacological evaluation of its leaves and oil. Tanshinone in cardiovascular health. Bioactive ginsenosides in heart health. Cardenolides. Digitalis reappraised: Still here today, but gone tomorrow? Carotenoids. Carotenoids: potential allies of cardiovascular health? Alkaloids. Oxymatrine and heart. Uncaria alkaloids in the cardiovascular system.

This unique volume provides the latest information on secondary metabolites obtained from selected organisms (plants or microorganisms) that have beneficial effects in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and an ability to offer protection against their progress. A detailed description of their source, chemistry and mechanism of action is provided, together with results of clinical studies. Here, a clear connection is made between chemical structures, in vitro studies and their clinical significance.The topic is extensive and the audience gains an understanding of the medicinal applications of these groups of secondary metabolites that have the potential to improve cardiovascular health.

• The latest information on secondary metabolites with beneficial effects in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
• Written by an outstanding team of authors, their work provides new insights into the beneficial effects of different components present in well known plant products, evidencing their impressive cardiovascular effects.
• This volume discusses novel targets to screen for new drugs and the need for data obtained from clinical studies using natural products in order to better analyze the significance of in vitro experimental data.
• Here the reader will find a unique and timely volume with an international flavor.
• This book describes the source, chemistry and mechanism of action of natural products with the potential to improve cardiovascular health.

Editor(s) Bio

Dr. Caballero-George - is a research scientist at the Institute of Scientific Research and High Technology Services (INDICASAT AIP), a government research facility in the Republic of Panama. She is also head of the Laboratory of Pharmacology at this institution and the founder of the Group of Pharmaceutical Research, formed by scientists from Belgium, Germany, Spain, United States, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Panamá. She is the developer of the new Unit for Intellectual Property Management at INDICASAT AIP and active member of a national initiative to thrust Panamanian innovation at the private and government level.Dr. Caballero-George obtained her doctorate degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Antwerp (2002) with a scholarship from the National Secretariat of Science and Technology (SENACYT) and the Panamanian Scholarship Institute (IFARHU). She was a visiting scholar at the University of Mississippi in Oxford (2005) and the University of Bönn (2008). In 2011, she received the TWAS-APANAC Young Scientist Award for her work on marine pharmacology of natural products. Her research has focused on studying the effects of natural products from plants and marine fungi on blood pressure regulation as shown in her publications. Dr. Caballero-George was a contributor and editor of a book on Intellectual Property Rights Management in Developing Countries /NAM S&T Center (2013) and more recently, she acted as guest editor of the international journal Planta Medica on the special issue dedicated to Cardiovascular Protection of Natural Products (2015).