Omnia SanaSymptom → Plant Sources
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and Cardiovascular / heart health: evidence and sources
Dandelion root and leaf lowered serum lipids and oxidative stress (preclinical).
For educational purposes only, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified practitioner before using medicinal plants, especially alongside prescribed medication, during pregnancy, or for a serious condition.
← Back to Symptom-to-Plant Lookup
Full Dandelion monograph →All plants for cardiovascular / heart health →
Taraxacum officinale (T. officinale) is a leafy vegetable that is commonly used traditionally as a diuretic agent. In the current study, we aimed at exploring the potential antihypertensive effect of T. officinale using two animal models of hypertension. Acute and sub-chronic antihypertensive effects of TOL and TOR at 500 mg/kg/bwt were evaluated in spontaneously hypertensive rats and L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats, respectively. Wistar rats were treated daily with L-NAME (40 mg/kg/bwt) until they became hypertensive and were then allocated to various treatment groups: control, furosemide (10 mg/kg/bwt) TOL (500 mg/kg/bwt) and TOR (500 mg/kg/bwt) for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected for determination of the lipid profile. Results showed that one-off oral administration of TOL and TOR significantly (p < 0.05) reduced systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure in the 2nd and 4th hours. In the sub-chronic study, TOL and TOR significantly (p < 0.05) prevented an increase in blood pressure throughout the period of treatment. However, TOL and TOR increased HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels in this study. T. officinale possesses antihypertensive effects with the aerial part most active at the used dosage which however, supports further development of the extract as a potential therapeutically useful natural antihypertensive agent.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), an oriental herbal medicine, has been shown to favorably affect choleretic, antirheumatic and diuretin properties. Recent reports have indicated that excessive oxidative stress contributes to the development of atherosclerosis-linked metabolic syndrome. The objective of this current study was to investigate the possible hypolipidemic and antioxidative effects of dandelion root and leaf in rabbits fed with a high-cholesterol diet. A group of twenty eight male rabbits was divided into four subgroups; a normal diet group, a high-cholesterol diet group, a high-cholesterol diet with 1% (w/w) dandelion leaf group, and a high-cholesterol diet with 1% (w/w) dandelion root group. After the treatment period, the plasma antioxidant enzymes and lipid profiles were determined. Our results show that treatment with dandelion root and leaf positively changed plasma antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid profiles in cholesterol-fed rabbits, and thus may have potential hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects. Dandelion root and leaf could protect against oxidative stress linked atherosclerosis and decrease the atherogenic index.
2 sources supporting Dandelion for Cardiovascular / heart health. Includes scientific publications, books, monographs and traditional-use references.
Mechanistic basis
This use is associated with the plant's antihypertensive, lipid-lowering actions. Further evidence for that pharmacology:
Obesity has become a worldwide health problem. Orlistat, an inhibitor of pancreatic lipase, is currently approved as an anti-obesity drug. However, gastrointestinal side effects caused by Orlistat may limit its use. In this study the inhibitory activities of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) against pancreatic lipase in vitro and in vivo were measured to determine its possible use as a natural anti-obesity agent. The inhibitory activities of the 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale and Orlistat were measured using 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate (4-MU oleate) as a substrate at concentrations of 250, 125, 100, 25, 12.5 and 4 microg/ml. To determine pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity in vivo, mice (n=16) were orally administered with corn oil emulsion (5 ml/kg) alone or with the 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale (400 mg/kg) following an overnight fast. Plasma triglyceride levels were measured at 0, 90, 180, and 240 min after treatment and incremental areas under the response curves (AUC) were calculated. The 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale and Orlistat, inhibited, porcine pancreatic lipase activity by 86.3% and 95.7% at a concentration of 250 microg/ml, respectively. T. officinale extract showed dose-dependent inhibition with the IC(50) of 78.2 microg/ml. A single oral dose of the extract significantly inhibited increases in plasma triglyceride levels at 90 and 180 min and reduced AUC of plasma triglyceride response curve (p<0.05). The results indicate that T. officinale exhibits inhibitory activities against pancreatic lipase in vitro and in vivo. Further studies to elucidate anti-obesity effects of chronic consumption of T. officinale and to identify the active components responsible for inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase are necessary.