BIARRITZ, France--A naturally occurring complex of flavonoids from pine bark functions as a powerful antioxidant and cell activity regulator, with profound effects on health, according to new research presented here at a scientific symposium.

The flavonoid complex, registered as Pycnogenol® and derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, quenches three specific types of dangerous free radicals--superoxide, hydroxyl and nitric oxide--according to Lester Packer, Ph.D., a cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

As a consequence, Packer says, Pycnogenol® can probably help protect against many diseases, including heart disease and cancer, that are aggravated by free radicals.

"Pycnogenol® is a complex mixture of phenolic and polyphenolic compounds and their sugar derivatives," he says. "The main components are catechins and epicatechins. It has been used in traditional medicine as a therapeutic agent against a number of diseases in which nitric oxide has been implicated in pathogenesis."

Pycnogenol®'s effects on nitric oxide radicals, in particular, have attracted Packer's scientific curiosity.

Nitric oxide, he explains, is a Jekyll-and-Hyde molecule, essential for some cellular and physiological functions but dangerous in large amounts. For example, it plays important roles in the cardiovascular, nervous and immune systems, yet excessive nitric oxide can also promote inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer's disease.

Pycnogenol® has the benefit of regulating and, at times, inhibiting nitric oxide production, according to experiments conducted by Packer and his colleagues. As shown by their studies, it can down-regulate the body's key nitric oxide-activating enzyme and nitric oxide-dependent genes.

Pycnogenol® also appears to have particular benefits in reducing inflammation caused in part by excessive nitric oxide radicals released by white blood cells, Packer says. In addition, it has a "sparing effect" on vitamin E, and the flavonoid complex plays some roles in "reduction-oxidation," the cellular process that recycles and regenerates antioxidants in the body.

Pycnogenol® may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease in still other ways, according to Ronald R. Watson, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona, Tucson. In experiments, Watson has found that smoking tobacco increases platelet aggregation, or the clotting of blood cells, but that Pycnogenol® decreases such aggregation in just two hours.

It also reduces the body's levels of interleukin-6, an immune-system compound associated with the progression of aging and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), Watson says. In an experiment with mice whose immune systems were damaged by alcohol, Pycnogenol® restored the animals' ability to fight retrovirus infections.

Pycnogenol®'s role as a nitric oxide production regulator was borne out by the research of David F. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., of the University of South Florida, Tampa. According to Fitzpatrick, Pycnogenol® increased nitric oxide levels in the endothelial cells that line the heart and blood vessel walls, thus permitting "optimal vasodilation of blood vessels."

Fitzpatrick explains how, in experiments on rats' blood vessels, he used the stress hormone adrenaline to constrict blood vessels, mimicking what occurs in heart disease. After adding Pycnogenol®, nitric oxide levels increased and the blood vessels dilated, a sign of normal blood-vessel function.

Although Fitzpatrick's findings might appear to contradict those of Packer, they point to the complex and subtle ways antioxidants function in different types of cells, according to speaker James P. Clark, Ph.D., technology director for Henkel Corp., the North American raw material distributor of Pycnogenol®.

Anthony W. Martin, D.C., Ph.D., of Timmins, Ontario, says that Pycnogenol® is of particular benefit to patients suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). "I started treating CFS in 1985, but it wasn't until I stumbled onto Pycnogenol® that I was able to help these patients," he says.

Martin says that he typically recommends that his CFS patients--some of whom have included professional hockey and baseball players--adopt a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, and supplement with a therapeutic dose of 200 mg to 400 mg of Pycnogenol® daily. "I can get a decrease in most CFS symptoms in three to six weeks," he says. "Pycnogenol® seems to give these people a jump start."

Peter Rohdewald, D.Sc., Ph.D., a pharmaceutical chemist and head of research for Horphag Research, manufacturer of Pycnogenol®, draws parallels between Pycnogenol® and some types of herbal products. He says that the sum of Pycnogenol®'s compounds--around 40 polyphenolic flavonoids and organic acids--is greater than the activity of their individual, isolated parts. "Every component contributes to and enhances the effects. All of them are playing a part in the orchestra," Rohdewald says.

The Fourth International Symposium on Pycnogenol®, held May 5, was sponsored by Horphag Research and attended by about 70 people. Pycnogenol® is sold by approximately 150 branded vitamin companies.

© Jack Challem