Nutraceuticals and Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy: The Available Clinical Evidence

Abstract

The aim of the present critical review is to summarize the available clinical evidence supporting the use of some dietary supplements that have been shown to lower blood pressure in hypertensive pregnant women. A systematic search strategy was carried out to identify trials in MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, MD, USA; January 1980 to September 2019) and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK). The terms ‘nutraceuticals’, ‘dietary supplements’, ‘pregnancy’, ‘pre-eclampsia’, ‘clinical trial’, and ‘human’ were incorporated into an electronic search strategy. The references of the identified studies and review articles were reviewed to look for additional studies of interest. We preferably selected papers that reported recent comprehensive reviews or meta-analysis, or original clinical trials of substances with blood pressure-lowering or vascular protective effect in pregnancy. There is a relative body of evidence that supports the use of calcium, vitamin D, folic acid, and resveratrol in preventing the development of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, and evidence supporting drug treatment too. Further clinical research is advisable to identify the dosage and timing of the supplementation, the group of women that might benefit the most from this approach, and the nutraceuticals with the best cost-effectiveness and risk-benefit ratio for widespread use in clinical practice.

Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women

“…[ 20 ] While Silvia Fogacci's researchers found that vitamin D supplementation may be useful in preventing preeclampsia and the development of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. [ 21 , 22 ] Insufficiency/deficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy would seriously affect the growth and development of fetal bones, thereby affecting the breast circumference, head circumference and length of the fetus, greatly increasing the birth probability of SGA. [ 23 ] The mortality and disease risk of SGA in the perinatal period were significantly higher than those of normal-weight newborns, and they would also have cognitive impairment, low learning ability, and low adult lifelong height in adulthood.…”

Coenzyme Q10: Clinical Applications in Cardiovascular Diseases

“…Pre-eclampsia is a severe vascular complication of pregnancy. A growing collection of literature suggests that attention needs to be focused on the possible effect of CoQ 10 during pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders [160].…”

Efficacy and Safety of Resveratrol Supplements on Blood Lipid and Blood Glucose Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…It is produced by plants under the action of exogenous stimuli, such as ultraviolet light irradiation, mechanical damage or fungal infection [37][38][39][40][41]. A large number of in vitro and in vivo tests have shown that resveratrol can effectively prevent hypertension through antioxidant effects [42], cardiovascular diseases [43], nonalcoholic fatty liver [44], metabolic syndrome [45], aging [46], cancer [47], and immunological diseases [48], through its antioxidant effect, and has a good application prospect. Based on this, the research on the safety of resveratrol is meaningful.…”