Herbs such as fennel, chamomile and lavender have long been used in the form of folk medicines to reduce blood pressure. Now, researchers, in a new study, have explained about their molecular mechanisms which help them work.
The study, conducted by researchers from University of California, illustrates how several of the common traditional herbs used to reduce blood pressure make use of a particular KCNQ5 (potassium channel) in the blood vessels.
KCNQ5, when activated, relaxes the blood vessels thus making it a mechanism for some of actions produced in specific botanical hypotensive folk medicines.
In the study, the researchers discoveredactivation of KCNQ5 as a common molecular mechanism among an array of botanical folk medicines. Lavender was one of those folk medicines to be studied. They found lavender to be one of the most effective KCNQ5 activation herb, along with chamomile and seed extract, said senior author of the study, Geoff Abbott.
The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Notably, there is 48,000 years old DNA evidence which suggests the use of herbs as folk medicines by the Homo neanderthalensis. The archaeological evidence, stretching back to around 800,000 years, also suggests the non-food use of plants by the Homo erectus.