Quercetin Supplementation and Blood Pressure

Results from a meta-analysis published in Current Problems in Cardiology suggest that quercetin supplementation lowers blood pressure (BP) in normotensive and (pre)hypertensive patients.

High blood pressure (BP) is considered a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) according to the American Heart Association. Hypertension is a widespread condition and there is a need for effective strategies for its treatment and prevention. Recent findings have suggested flavonoids, due to their anti-inflammatory potential, with quercetin as one of the most important among them, could be useful in hypertension prevention or treatment as it is the most naturally abundant and well-investigated flavonol already linked with a cardioprotective potential and reduced risk of vascular disease in studies conducted in vitro or on animal models.

Against the above background, Joanna Popiolek-Kalisz and Emilia Fornal from Poland aimed to summarize data focused on quercetin's impact on systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP). They revised the findings from previous meta-analyses in the context of newly published results coming from randomized control trials (RCTs).

For this purpose, the researchers searched the online databases to identify randomized controlled trials that assessed the impact of quercetin on BP until May 2022. Data were analyzed using a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis was performed to explore the effects in (pre)hypertensive and normotensive adults. The analysis included ten trials (841 participants in total).

The results showed that quercetin supplementation significantly decreased SBP in the mixed population (MD: -2.38mmHg) and in the normotensive subgroup (MD: -1.82mmHg) and DBP in the (pre)hypertensive subgroup (MD: -3.14mmHg).

"Findings from a meta-analysis suggest that quercetin lowers systolic blood pressure in normotensives and diastolic blood pressure in (pre)hypertensive, so has a potential role in this," the researchers wrote. "However, still there is a need for more studies on this topic, particularly in hypertensive patients and regarding long-term administration effects."

Reference

The study titled, "The effects of quercetin supplementation on blood pressure – meta-analysis," was published in Current Problems in Cardiology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2022.101350