ABSTRACT
In ancient China, Radix puerariae (RP, root of kudzu) was mostly used for the treatment of early symptoms of acute febrile diseases such as dizziness and stiffness in neck and back, lack of perspiration, and aversion to air draft (Shang Han Lun, c. AD 200). The study of the pharmacological action of RP on the cardiovascular system is a more recent adventure, dating back only to the 1970s when a medical group from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences went to Capital Iron and Steel Plant to conduct a research project on the prevention and treatment of hypertension among the factory workers. The major task was to devise a treatment method that would effectively relieve the symptoms that accompanied hypertension. The most prominent symptoms observed among these patients included headache, dizziness, stiffness and soreness in the neck, which persisted even after blood pressure was brought under control through conventional medications. This reminded the medical team of the indications of RP and led to a clinical trial testing the efficacy of RP in the management of the symptoms accompanied hypertension. The result was so impressive that it triggered a systematic and comprehensive research program that spanned across multiple disciplines from phytochemistry to pharmacology. Preliminary studies led to the belief that the active ingredients of RP were isoflavonoids. Later, some of these isoflavones were isolated and identified and their pharmacological activities on cardiovascular system were studied (Fang, 1980).
