Pine Bark Extract

Pine Bark Extract, often commonly known as Pycnogenol, is used in chronic venous insufficiency, allergies, asthma, hypertension, muscle soreness, pain, osteoarthritis, diabetes, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), endometriosis, menopausal symptoms, dysmenorrhea, erectile dysfunction, and retinopathy. It is also used for helping to prevent stroke, preventing vascular conditions such as heart disease and varicose veins, slowing the aging process, maintaining skin health, improving athletic endurance, and improving sperm morphology in subfertile men.

Pine Bark is an extract from the bark of the pine tree. It contains several active constituents including flavonoid monomers such as catechin, epicatechin, and taxifolin. It also contains condensed procyanidins (also called flavonoids or proanthocyanidins) such as procyanidin B1, B3, B6, and B7 which are dimers, oligomers, and polymers of catechin and epicatechin. Pine Bark also contains phenolic acids including gallic, ferulic, caffeic, vanillic, p-coumaric, protocatechuic, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids, and their glucosides and glucose esters.

There is also some evidence that procyanidins make elastin more resistant to degradation by elastase, and that Pine Bark might inhibit elastase and collagenase released by activated macrophages. Pine Bark might also help prevent capillary permeability due to the antioxidant effects of several of its constituents. Pine Bark also seems to recycle ascorbyl and tocopheryl radicals, helping to maintain vitamin C and E levels.

Some research suggests that Pine Bark might be useful in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In vitro, pycnogenol prevents oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and protects DNA from damage by free radicals. It also seems to prevent free-radical induced endothelial damage in vitro.

Pine Bark inhibits epinephrine-induced platelet aggregation, such as that seen in smokers, but pycnogenol does not appear to increase bleeding risk or affect smoking-related increases in blood pressure or heart rate.

In non-smokers, it decreases serum thromboxane B2 and reduces systolic blood pressure.

For asthma, Pine Bark is thought to be beneficial due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In children with asthma taking pycnogenol decreases urinary levels of leukotrienes compared to placebo.

Preliminary evidence suggests that Pine Bark might stimulate the immune system. It seems to boost natural killer cell activity and improves T- and B-cell function in animal models.

Pine Bark might have some activity in Alzheimer's disease. In vitro, pycnogenol protects animal brain cells from the toxic effects of high levels of glutamate, and also from the toxic effects of amyloid-beta-protein, which is found in the plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

There is a developing interest in using Pine Bark to prevent obesity. In vitro, Pine Bark appears to inhibit insulin-induced lipogenesis and may stimulate lipolysis.

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