The investigation of hawthorn (crataegus orientalis) plant's inhibition effect on angiotensin converting enzyme

Hypertension is a critical health problem that affects the health of approximately one billion people today. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are used effectively in the treatment of hypertension. However, due to the side effects of these drugs, studies are carried out in many laboratories to develop herbal-based, cheaper and less side-effects ACE inhibitors. For this purpose, the presented study was planned to examine the effects of ethanol and n-hexane extracts of Crataegus orientalis leaves on human plasma ACE enzyme. In the study, the effect of plant extracts on ACE was studied by spectrophotometric method. The results obtained showed that ethanol and n-hexane extracts of Crataegus orientalis leaves had a significant inhibitory effect on human plasma ACE, and the IC50 values were determined as 0.124 mg/mL and 1.092 mg/mL, respectively. Besides, it was determined by drawing Lineweaver-Burk graphs that both extracts showed noncompetitive inhibition. As a result, the obtained data showed that Crataegus orientalis could have an important place in the pharmaceutical industry like other Crataegus species, as it supports the traditional use of Crataegus orientalis as hypotensive.