<shortened url>Hypoxia and Treatment of Varicose Veins
Few studies have investigated potential pharmacologic
agents that may protect the vein wall from hypoxia. The
most commonly studied group of pharmacological agents
in this context has been the venoactive drugs such as flavonoids
[19, 41, 55, 57, 62] . Venoactive drugs are often
derived from plant extracts, and their therapeutic actions
include increased venous tone, reduced vein wall inflammation
and decreased capillary permeability [6, 63] .
In vitro models have been used to investigate the effects
of venoactive drugs on hypoxia-induced endothelial
and PMN activation [41, 57] . In a HUVEC model, aescine
was shown to inhibit hypoxia-induced activation of endothelial
cells, leucocytes, and the interactions of these
cells in a dose-dependent manner [41, 57] . Venoactive
drugs were also shown to target complexes I and III of the
mitochondrial respiratory chain or adenine nucleotide
translocase, reduce oxidative stress, and increase ATP
synthesis during hypoxia [8, 41, 64] . A further study used
an ex vivo vein explant model and found that flavonoids
significantly reduced the oxygen consumption of varicose
veins [55] .
www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=119What foods provide flavonoids?
Virtually all fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices contain flavonoids. They are also found in other types of food, including dry beans (where they give red beans,black beans, and speckled beans their color) and grains (where the color provided by flavonoids is usually in the yellow family). Products made from the foods above (for example, wines made from grapes) also typically contain a wide variety of flavonoids.
While the flavonoid family is too complex to report all of its food connections, some highlights are especially important. In the fruit family, it is berries that come out highest in the chemical category of flavonoids called anthocyanins. Black raspberries, for example, may contain up to 100 milligrams of anthocyanins per ounce.
Green tea has flavonoid components called catechins that may reach 1,000 milligrams (or 1 gram) per cup. In general the more colorful components of the food - like the skins of fruits - contain the highest concentration of flavonoids. An exception to this rule, however, is the white pulpy inside of oranges. Unlike the watery orange-colored sections of this fruit, which contain virtually all of its vitamin C, the orange's flavonoids are found in the white pulpy portion inside the skin and surrounding the sections.
There's also a good chart diagram in the first article linked, I'll post it next, as well as Dr. Simka's abstract that ties in.