X-Message-Number: 27960
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 10:28:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: pomegranate may protect arteries

[  Nitric oxide is known to exert a protective effect on arteries. A good
argument could be made than even a small amount of pomegranate juice taken
daily would likely lessen the risk of atherosclerosis. BTW: It is a
little disconcerting to see just how powerful pomegranate juice
can be. POM juice was used in some of the experiments.]
   It might also be interesting to see if the addition of a
small amount of filtered pomegranate juice might not have a positive
effect on lowering the toxicity of vitrification solutions.]

Nitric Oxide. 2006 Apr 18; [Epub ahead of print]
Pomegranate juice protects nitric oxide against oxidative destruction and
enhances the biological actions of nitric oxide.
  Pomegranate juice (PJ), which is a rich source of potent flavonoid
antioxidants, was tested for its capacity to protect nitric oxide
(NO) against oxidative destruction and enhance the biological actions of
NO. Employing chemiluminescence headspace analysis, PJ was found to be a
potent inhibitor of superoxide anion-mediated disappearance of NO. PJ was
much more potent than Concord grape juice, blueberry juice, red wine,
ascorbic acid, and dl-alpha-tocopherol. As little as 3mul of a 6-fold
dilution of PJ, in a reaction volume of 5000mul, produced a marked
antioxidant effect, whereas 300mul of undiluted blueberry juice or nearly
1000mul of undiluted Concord grape juice were required to produce similar
effects. PJ and other antioxidant-containing products were found to
augment the anti-proliferative action of NO (DETA/NO) on vascular smooth
muscle cell (rat aorta) proliferation. PJ was much more effective than the
other products tested and elicited no effects when tested alone in the
absence of added NO. Similarly, neither PJ nor the other products
enhanced the anti-proliferative action of alpha-difluoromethylornithine,
a stable substance that inhibits cell growth by NO-independent
mechanisms. In order to determine whether PJ is capable of increasing the
production of NO by vascular endothelial cells, PJ was tested for its
capacity to upregulate and/or activate endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in
bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. PJ elicited no effects on
eNOS protein expression or catalytic activity. Moreover, PJ did not
enhance promoter activity in the eNOS gene (COS-7 cells transfected with
eNOS). These observations indicate that PJ possesses potent antioxidant
activity that results in marked protection of NO against oxidative
destruction, thereby resulting in augmentation of the biological actions
of NO.

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