Antihypertensive and cardioprotective effects of pumpkin seed oil

·        Pumpkin seed oil is a natural product commonly used in folk medicine for treatment of prostatic hypertrophy. 

·        The pumpkin seed oil exhibits an antihypertensive and cardioprotective effects through a mechanism that may involve generation of NO. (El-Mosallamy AE, Sleem AA, Abdel-Salam OM, et al. J Med Food. 2012 Feb;15(2):180-9).

·        Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) is one of the commonly consumed leafy vegetables in Nigeria. In a study on rats supplemented diets containing 3% and 6%, T. occidentalis decreased plasma and PMF cholesterol levels by 20% and 30% and by 30% and 45%, respectively. (Adaramoye OA, Achem J, Akintayo OO, et al. Hypolipidemic effect of Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) in rats fed a cholesterol-rich diet. J Med Food 2007 Jun;10(2):330-6).

·        Natural products like pumpkin-seed oil (PSO) may modify the potency of the calcium antagonist felodipine (FEL) or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-inhibitor), captopril (CPT) in modulating the biochemical derangement in blood, heart and kidney as well as blood pressure and heart rate of spontaneously hypertensive rats. (Zuhair HA, Abd El-Fattah AA, El-Sayed MI. Pumpkin-seed oil modulates the effect of felodipine and captopril in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Pharmacol Res. 2000 May;41(5):555-63)