HAWTHORN PASSION FLOWER EXTRACT AND IMPROVEMENT IN PHYSICAL EXERCISE CAPACITY OF PATIENTS WITH DYSPNEA CLASS-II OF THE NYHA FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION

In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study, in which patients were stratified according to physical performance, pati ents received either hawthorn/passion flower extract or placebo. Exerc ise capacity and improvement in symptoms were evaluated in a total of 40 patients aged 53 to 86 years, with dyspnoea commensurate with a NYH A functional class II. Over the 6 week trial period, the patients rece ived oral drops (2 ml) three times daily. A 6-minute walking test and bicycle ergometer test were conducted to assess changes in exercise ca pacity. Blood lactate levels, heart rate, and blood pressure were also measured during exercise. Also recorded were improvements in symptoms , particularly dyspnoea, and changes in urine and blood biochemical pa rameters. The results show that exercise capacity, measured in terms o f a walking test, increased significantly in those patients receiving the hawthorn/passion flower extract (p<0.05, two-tailed test). Maximum exercise capacity measured during a bicycle ergometer test increased by about 10% over the baseline in both groups, but changes between gro ups did not differ significantly. The subjective symptom of breathless ness improved in both the extract and placebo groups, by approximately 40% and 30% respectively. Physical performance capacity at the aerobi c transition threshold of 2 mmol lactate/l blood increased by 6.5% in the group receiving the extract, while it fell by 4.4% in the placebo group. This difference was, however, not statistically significant (p> 0.05). In the group receiving the extract there was a slight but signi ficant fall in heart rate at rest and in mean diastolic blood pressure during exercise (p<0.05, two-tailed test). There was a significant de crease in total plasma cholesterol levels in the group receiving the e xtract in comparison with the placebo group (p<0.01, two-tailed test).